


Now What?

by buckminsterbarnes



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, Connor & Markus (Detroit: Become Human) Friendship, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson Adopts Connor, Hurt Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Poor Connor, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2020-07-29 16:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 28,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20085403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckminsterbarnes/pseuds/buckminsterbarnes
Summary: After the android revolution, the world held its breath, wondering what to do next.Connor was no exception.Hank takes the young android under his wing as he tries to figure out what it means to be deviant--what it means to be Connor.Connor's journey to self discovery is brought to a stand-still as the world retaliates against the recently freed androids. Connor and Hank find themselves pitted against the anti-android revolution, and untangling the strings brings them to a looming threat they hoped they would never have to face...





	1. Chapter 1

Now what?  


That seemed to be the question on everyone’s mind. Markus led the revolution. The President agreed to hear the andriods’ pleas. The world would never be the same.  


But now what?  


The same question lingered in Connor’s mind as he nervously flipped the silver coin in his hand. He sucked in a deep synthetic breath as he started towards Hank, who had been scanning the area, awaiting the android. He slipped the coin back into his jacket pocket as he locked eyes with Hank.

_Stress Level: 89% and rising_  
_Warning! Lower Stress Level. Reaching Critical Levels._

The android pushed the warning aside and took another step towards Hank. Connor’s thirium pump seemed to stop beating in his chest as he looked at the ragged detective. A faint smile crossed the man’s lips. Connor sighed in relief and Hank pulled him in close, wrapping his arms around him. Connor melted into the embrace, hugging back tightly.  


_ Stress Level: 63% and dropping  
_

Connor squeezed his eyes shut and sighed in relief. Hank pulled back from the embrace, but kept his hands resting firmly on the android’s shoulders.  


“Good to see you, son.” Hank smiled. Connor smiled back, but Hank’s acute senses told him something was off.

_Stress Level: 71% and rising_  
_Warning! Lower Stress Level before reaching Critical Levels._

Connor swallowed as he pushed off the warning, focusing his attention back on Hank. The detective watched curiously as Connor’s LED cycled from yellow to red, almost too quickly for him to catch. He narrowed his eyes at the android, unsure of why the LED was yellow to begin with. Sure, the kid had been through a lot in the past day, but it was all on the rise now, he thought.  


“Something bothering you, Connor?” Hank turned his head slightly, fixing his gaze from the LED back to Connor’s eyes.  


If there was one thing that Hank picked up from the android early on, it was the tell that he had when he lied. Connor’s eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, and he tucked his head down a fraction of a degree.  


“No, Lieutenant.” Hank watched the android’s face carefully, cursing in his head as he saw the telltale signs. “I am merely processing the events that have unfolded the past few days.”  


It wasn’t a complete lie, Connor told himself. It was true that there were a lot of events that weighed heavy on his mind from the revolution. But, there was one in particular that shook him to his core. Amanda. he shivered and pushed the thought away as quickly as he could, focusing back on Hank instead.  


The flash of red in his LED was once again not lost on Hank.  


“I can imagine,” The detective nodded, deciding not to pry at the moment. Connor would come clean when he was comfortable doing so. At least, he hoped he would. “Let’s get you home.” Hank patted Connor’s shoulders and started for his car.  


Connor hesitated, his LED briefly flashing to red once again. 

_Stress Level: 86% and rising_  
_Warning! Stress Level approaching Critical Level!_  
_Lower Stress Level_

Connor stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn’t go back to his mandated CyberLife home. No, he couldn’t do that. They either wouldn’t let him in, or he would be scrapped for parts as soon as he entered standby mode for repairs. He shivered at the thought.  


Where else could he go? Certainly not with Markus. Though the deviant leader assured him that all was forgiven, Connor couldn’t see his stress level dropping as he stayed with what remained of the people that he was instrumental in eliminating.  


Connor swallowed as the thought finally crossed his mind. He had nowhere to go.  


“Connor?” Hank turned on his heel, narrowing his eyes at Connor. “You coming?”  


Connor swallowed hard again. “I have nowhere to go, Lieutenant.” He said, his gaze dropping to the pavement in defeat.  


“The fuck do you mean?” Hank threw his head back and scoffed. “You’re coming home.”  


“I have no home,” Connor could feel tears welling up in his eyes. It felt so... foreign. Yet, so natural all at the same time. He sighed as he realized that there was a lot more to this ‘deviant’ thing than he had realized. “I can’t go back to CyberLife, Hank.” Connor looked up at Hank, trying desperately to force the tears away.  


“For fucks sake, Connor,” Hank said gruffly, stepping up quickly to Connor, unable to look into his puppy dog eyes. “I mean you’re coming home with _me_.” Hank grabbed the android’s arm and started dragging him to the car. “Sumo’s going to be over-the-moon excited,” Hank shook his head.  


He released his grip on Connor’s arm and hopped into the car. Connor stood dazed for a second, then quickly wiped away the loose tears with his sleeve and got into the passenger seat.  


Hank started up the car and stole a quick look at Connor, who was still sniffling, but trying desperately to maintain composure. He smiled a small smile as a brief memory of Cole flashed across his mind. His boy had stood up to some bullies in class, but managed to get a black eye from a rogue swing. He sat the same way Connor had, so afraid that his father would be upset with him.  


Hank shook his head and thought about taking Connor to get ice cream the same way that he had done with Cole, but he realized that the gesture would be lost, since Connor couldn’t exactly eat ice cream. No, he resolved instead that he should just take the boy home.  


They pulled out from underneath the overpass, leaving the Chicken Feed truck in their wake.

_Stress Level: 40% and dropping_

Connor sighed in relief when the diagnostic came back, his LED finally returning to a cool blue. His stiff synthetic muscles relaxed themselves a bit and he settled into the seat. Hank turned his head slightly and noticed the shift in the android’s body language and he smiled to himself.  


The two rode home in silence, not even the radio blaring. Hank knew better than to press with questions, and Connor appreciated the gesture. He knew that he wasn’t in the mood to talk about what had happened just yet. Besides, he saw no reason to worry the Lieutenant with his problems. The human had enough on his mind as it was.  


When they arrived and Hank opened the front door, Sumo could hardly contain himself at the sight of Connor. Hank quickly caught the large ball of fluff before he had the chance to tackle Connor. Connor smiled warmly, patting the mass of fur that squirmed in Hank’s arms.  


“Alright, alright, Sumo. You’ll have plenty of time to bond later, just _please_ let us in the house.” Hank panted, barely able to contain the excited top half of the Saint Bernard.  


On command, Sumo stopped struggling and Hank let him down. The dog trotted over to the couch and plopped down.  


“Good boy,” Hank breathed, brushing himself off as he stood up to his full height. Connor closed the door behind them and took in his surroundings again.  


“Yeah, it’s nice to use the front door and not the window, huh?” Hank jested as he slid off his winter jacket and hung it up beside the door.  


Connor smiled slightly and followed suit, hanging up his CyberLife jacket beside Hank’s. He frowned slightly when he realized that his suit jacket was stained with thirium. Hank’s heart dropped as he looked over at the android.  


“I’ll get you some clean clothes.” Hank shook his head and started for his room. “Don’t you dare even think about sitting on my couch with those damned dirty things!” He called over his shoulder.  


Connor knelt down beside Sumo, who started wagging his tail furiously as he approached. He patted the dog’s head and began to brush the fur on his back. Sumo flipped himself onto his back and Connor smiled to himself. He wasn’t quite sure how, but he knew that he was safe here. He knew that Hank would keep him safe. In spite of everything that had happened between them, he knew that Hank cared about him. It made him feel warm inside. He ran a diagnostic to make sure that he wasn’t just overheating, but it came back negative, so he marked it up to emotions.  


With sorrow and joy both pulling at his mind, he realized that these emotions were going to be a lot more difficult than he initially thought. No wonder those deviants had gone insane.  


Hank reappeared in the hallway and tossed some clean clothes at the android. Connor caught them effortlessly and gave one last pat to the dog’s head before standing up.  


“They’re not much and they’re going to be a little big, but it’s all I’ve got.” Hank rubbed the back of his head. “We’ll take you shopping tomorrow, alright?”  


“Lieutenant, you don’t have to—” Connor started, but was quickly interrupted by Hank’s raised hand.  


“I thought I told you from the start that you don’t get to tell me what to do,” Hank shook his head with a slight smile. “And that’s enough with this ‘Lieutenant’ bullshit,” Hank let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s Hank, understand?”  


“Of course, Lieut—Hank.” Connor smirked. Hank rolled his eyes and started for the couch.  


“Now go change before I change my mind.”  


Connor nodded with a smile and started for the bathroom. He closed the door softly behind him and slipped off his uniform and replaced with the soft fabric that Hank lent to him. As he was on his way out, he stopped and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. The long-sleeved black shirt hung over his slight frame, but he suspected that the cut of the shirt wasn’t what made it feel so foreign to him. Up until today, he had been nothing more than a CyberLife jockey. His only goal was his mission. But it wasn’t even his mission. It’s was CyberLife’s mission. The sudden realization brought on a tidal wave of emotions with it. 

_Stress Level: 80% and rising_  
_Warning! Stress reaching Critical Level!_  
_Lower Stress Level_

Connor struggled to steady himself against the sink as he felt tears rushing to his eyes. He didn’t even know who he was. Was he anyone? He couldn’t keep the memories of the destruction of Jericho from flooding to the surface. All of the death. The carnage. Everything that he caused.  


Who was Connor?  


His knees crumbled underneath him, and he sat down hard on the ground. He pushed himself against the wall and brought his knees against his chest, tears streaming down his face. He choked back sobs, trying to keep Hank from seeing him in this fragile state.

_Stress Level: 89% and rising_

He pushed the message away from his vision and curled himself up even tighter. He tried to suck in deep breaths to steady himself, but he could still feel his stress level climbing rapidly.  


He was nothing more than a puppet before. And what good is a puppet that’s cut off its own strings? He was nothing without CyberLife. But CyberLife had made him into a monster. With CyberLife gone, did the monster still prevail?  


He buried his head in his knees and rocked himself back and forth. He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything.  


“Connor?” Hank knocked at the door. “Everything okay in there?” Connor’s head snapped towards the door as he struggled to catch his synthetic breath. “Connor?” Hank’s voice grew more desperate. Connor couldn’t force the words out of his mouth. “Connor, I’m coming in.” Hank said firmly and the door handle started turning.  


Hank’s worried gaze was met with Connor’s bloodshot and crying eyes.  


“Oh Connor,” Hank breathed and knelt down beside the android. “Talk to me, kid. What’s going on?” Hank rested a reassuring hand on Connor’s shoulder. He shuddered at the touch, but Hank persisted. He knew that he had to bring the kid back to reality. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, Connor.” Hank wasn’t sure that he could help the kid regardless. He obviously wasn’t the best at handling emotion, but he’d be damned if he didn’t give it a try.  


“C-c-CyberLife,” Connor choked on the words and buried his head between his knees again.  


Hank’s heart shattered. He rubbed Connor’s shoulder comfortingly. “I know kid, I know.” He said softly. “C’mon, let’s get you over to the couch, okay?”  


Connor nodded in response and Hank stood up, offering Connor a hand. Connor took it warily and Hank helped him to his feet. Connor stood shakily, wiping his eyes with his sleeve and sniffling. Hank slid a supportive hand around the android’s waist and pulled Connor’s arm around his shoulders.  


Connor almost protested, knowing that he was still operational and could walk to the living room on his own, but at the same time he wanted nothing more than Hank’s support at the moment.  


Hank helped Connor to plop down on the couch, then grabbed him the softest blanket that he could find. He wrapped it gingerly around Connor’s shoulders. Sumo snuggled up on top of Connor’s socks.  


Connor pulled the blanket tightly around himself, still shaking and trying to console himself. Visions of Amanda flashed across his mind, followed by images of Jericho being blown to bits. He shivered again and pulled the blanket tighter.  


“Alright Connor,” Hank knelt in front of the couch. “You feel that blanket I put on you?”  


Connor nodded, trying to understand why Hank would ask such a seemingly ridiculous question.  


“Tell me how it feels, kid.” Hank pressed, watching Connor intently and trying to hide the panic in his voice.  


“It’s…it’s soft,” Connor said quietly, twisting the fabric between his fingers. He stopped for a moment and realized that the sensation was more than just his sensors stating the obvious. No, for the first time, he realized that he liked the way that the blanket felt. He liked the way that the blanket felt between his fingers, the way that he could feel that threads against his fingertips. “It’s really soft,” He sniffled and looked up at Hank. “It’s a very nice blanket, Hank.”  


Hank couldn’t hold back the smile from the android’s childlike reaction and genuine appreciation. “Okay kid, now pat Sumo on the head.”  


Sumo perked up at the sound of his name, and Connor reached his hand out hesitantly from under the blanket. He brushed his fingers over the soft fur of the Saint Bernard.  


“Tell me how that feels, Connor.” Hank said and watched as a faint smile ghosted on Connor’s lips.  


“He’s also very soft. I-I like the way that the hairs tangle in my fingers,” Connor smiled weakly, wiping the tears from his face with the blanket. Hank breathed in relief as he saw Connor’s LED finally cycle back to yellow.  


_  
Stress Level: 60% and dropping_

“He’s a good dog,” Connor cooed, and Sumo rested his head on the android’s lap.  


“Yeah,” Hank chuckled. “What does his head feel like on your lap?”  


“It’s heavy,” Connor tilted his head, the stress fading and the confusion from Hank’s seemingly irrational behavior taking over. “And warm. I can…I can feel every time he breathes.”  


“That’s right, Connor,” Hank watched patiently as Connor’s LED cycled back around to blue. Sighing in relief, the detective sat down on the couch next to the android.  


After a few more minutes of Connor gingerly petting Sumo, he turned to face Hank. “Why did you ask me to describe those things?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.  


“Well,” Hank ran his fingers through his hair and stared at the wall in front of him. “I’m not quite sure what it is you were thinking about back there, but I knew that it wasn’t about something that’s right here in front of you. It’s easy to get carried away by the shit that we can’t change,” Hank swallowed hard before continuing, turning his gaze to the android. “That’s why it’s important to focus on the present. The things that are right in front of us. And I know that you’re just getting used to these feelings and emotions, so I thought I’d try and get you focused on the good things you can feel around ya.” Hank shook his head and turned back to the wall.  


Connor’s LED cycled to yellow as he tried to process the information. “Hank?”  


“Yeah, kid?” Hank turned back to Connor.  


“Why are you doing all of this for me?” He asked, Hank’s heart breaking as he did. There was so much pain dripping in the android’s voice as he spoke.  


“Because I care about you, Connor.” Hank reassured him. “And you do things for people you care about. Remember when you saved me on that rooftop instead of catching the deviant?” Hank asked, trying to bring up one of the many good things that Connor had accomplished. He cursed inwardly when he saw the LED flicker back to yellow momentarily at the mention of the chase.  


“I don’t understand why, Hank. I don’t.” Connor dropped his gaze to Sumo, who was nearly asleep with his head resting on the android’s lap. “I’ve…I’ve caused a lot of pain. I fought on the wrong side for so long…”  


“But look where you are now,” Hank said after a brief pause. “Look at the side you ended up on,” Connor looked up at him quizzically, tears brimming in his eyes. “Look at all the good you did by bringing in those Cyberlife androids,” Connor dropped his gaze. “I know there’s a lot going on right now Connor, and I can’t even imagine what you’re dealing with. But kid, you should know that you can’t change the past,” Hank shook his head and looked down at the ground. “You can’t change it, and there’s nothing that you can do about it except for move on. You’ve got to look at the here and now and realize everything that you have. Everything that you’ve done right to get this far. That’s the only way we get past this.” Hank sighed, resisting the urge to get up and grab a beer. All of this was so far beyond his area of expertise. Hell, he barely knew how to take care of himself anymore, let alone someone else.  


Connor looked up at Hank, tears still welling in his eyes, but a smile crossing his face. He pulled Hank into a tight embrace, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he did.  


“You’re warm,” Connor said, still holding on tight. “I like the way that my head can rest on your shoulder,” He continued, and Hank wrapped his arms around the android. “It feels…safe.” Connor snuggled even further into the hug.  


After a solid moment, Hank patted Connor on the back and released him. “You’ve had a long couple ‘a days, Connor, and so have I. I’m sure you’ve got some repairs to get to, and I know that I’ve got this thing called ‘being sober’ that’s been giving me a lot of grief,” They both smiled.  


Hank stood up from the couch and dusted off his pants. “You let me know if you need anything the rest of the night, okay?”  


Connor nodded in response and Hank started off towards the bedroom.  


“Hank?” Hank almost didn’t hear Connor’s quiet voice. He turned around to see the two brown eyes peeking over the edge of the couch. “Thank you. For everything.”  


Hank smiled and walked back to the couch. “Don’t mention it, son,” He ruffled Connor’s synthetic hair. “Goodnight, Connor.” He said as he flicked off the lights, the bedroom lights down the hall barely illuminating the room.  


“Goodnight, Hank.” Connor said quietly and Hank shut the bedroom door softly behind him.  


Connor pulled the soft blanket tightly around himself and stretched himself out on the couch. Though the blanket was as unnecessary in the repair process as the laying down was, they both seemed to bring him some comfort. After all, he was deviant now. He was alive.  


More importantly, he was going to figure all of this out. He was sure of it. He was going to learn what it meant to be alive. What it meant to be Connor.


	2. Chapter 2

Was something…burning? 

Hank’s groggy brain was slowly starting to process the smell around him. And something was definitely burning.

He shot up in bed and threw off the covers. He stumbled out of his room and raced down the hall to the kitchen, only to be met with black smoke billowing out of the kitchen. Connor turned to face him, a smoldering frying pan in hand.

“Good morning, Lieutenant,” Connor beamed, waving the smoke away from his face.

“Goddamnit, Connor,” Hank cursed and ran his fingers through his hair. “You scared the shit outta me,” He shook his head and huffed.

“I’m sorry, Hank,” Connor sulked, returning the frying pan to the stove top.

“No, no, no!” Hank rushed over and swiped the frying pan away from the heat and threw it into the sink. He choked on the smoke as he ran cool water over the pan. “Jesus, Connor.” He coughed. “They didn’t teach you how to cook in android school?”

“It wasn’t deemed an essential ability for the RK800 model,” Connor shrugged, wringing his hands together nervously. Was Hank upset with him? He was only trying to help.

“Can’t say I agree with that,” Hank wheezed. “Why the fuck haven’t the smoke alarms gone off yet?” 

“I temporarily disabled them,” Connor’s head hung low at Hank’s increasingly annoyed tone. “I didn’t want to wake you, and I knew that you were in no danger. I can reenable them right—”

“No!” Hank interrupted, throwing the window open. “No, don’t do that just yet. Help me get all of the damned windows open,” He commanded, and Connor rushed to help him.

The smoke started to clear, and Hank reexamined the frying pan’s charred remains. “What the hell was this?” Hank asked, looking around the rest of the kitchen to see other dishes scattered around the counter.

“Eggs,” Connor said quietly, not daring to look up at Hank. He was already mentally planning a route to the nearest android shelter.

“Why the hell,” Hank breathed as he saw a glass of orange juice in the microwave. “What the hell is this?” He pulled it out and showed it to Connor.

“I remember hearing once that warm beverages are found to be comforting,” Connor rubbed his arm nervously, still not looking up at Hank.

Hank sighed as he noticed the yellow cycling LED on Connor’s forehead. “Oh, Connor,” He dumped the orange juice down the drain and gently grabbed the android’s shoulder. “It was a really sweet gesture,” He said reassuringly. “But damn, we need to teach you how to cook.” He chuckled and patted Connor’s shoulder before turning back to the mess. 

Connor could feel his stress easing as Hank began to clean up his mistakes. He started running the water for dishes as Hank collected them.

“Don’t worry about that right now, Con.” Hank waved his hand absently at the android. “We’ll take care of it later. Right now, I’m going to show you how to properly cook some eggs,”  
Connor smiled and watched as Hank pulled out a clean pan and turned up the heat once again on the stove top.

“I’ve got a question for ya, kid,” Hank said as he cracked an egg on the countertop and poured it into the pan. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, Google search how to make eggs or some shit?” 

“The CyberLife network is currently down,” Connor shrugged, feeling uneasy creeping up as he thought about even connecting to the network again.

“Oh,” Hank mumbled absentmindedly as he started to scramble the eggs. “So, you’re just completely offline now? For good?” He asked, wondering what that meant for Connor’s detective abilities.

“I suspect that CyberLife is currently under investigation by the federal government,” Connor titled his head as he intently watched the older man. “I presume that my capabilities will go back online once the investigation is completed.” Connor desperately hoped that CyberLife would go under, but he worried about what that would mean for androids everywhere. As he felt his stress level creep up, he remembered Hank’s words from the night before. He would have to leave that up to Markus. There was nothing he could do about it here and now.

Hank watched curiously as Connor’s LED quickly flashed to yellow, then back to blue.

“So, what does that mean for you?” Hank asked quietly, flipping the eggs onto a clean plate and switching the heat off.

“I…I’m not sure yet,” Connor admitted, scanning the eggs and logging the memory for later use. “Though we rely on CyberLife for some of our capabilities, we are designed to be self-sufficient without the aid of the network.”

“English, Connor.” Hank scoffed as he set down the plate on the kitchen table and pulled up a chair. Connor sat silently across from him.

“I’m still fully capable on my own,” Connor smiled slightly at Hank. “I just don’t have access to the CyberLife databases.”

“So, you could’ve still Google searched how to make eggs?” Hank raised an eyebrow inquisitively at the android while shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. 

Connor blushed, blue blood running to his cheeks. “I…I suppose that I could’ve used the internet rather than CyberLife’s databases, yes.” He hadn’t realized how much he relied on Cyberlife before.

“Well, make a note of that,” Hank shook his head and continued to eat. Sumo plopped down beside him and rested his head on his lap. “You hungry, Sumo? You can have the eggs Connor made.” Hank chuckled and the dog whined. “See, even Sumo doesn’t want your shit.” Connor smiled and reached under the table to pat the mass of fur on the head. 

Hank finished up his breakfast and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Alright kid,” He stood up from the table as Connor watched him expectantly, hands folded neatly on the tabletop. “I’m gonna go change. Grab some kind of hat and get ready to head out.” Hank dropped his plate into the sink and headed off towards his room without another word.

Connor’s LED spun yellow as he realized the implications of going out in town. “Are you sure that it’s in our best interest to go out in public today?”

“If you want clothes to wear, then I would say yes,” Hank muttered over his shoulder.

“It’s just that, well things are likely to be very tense following the events of the revolution.” Connor fiddled with his fingers nervously.

“Hence the hat,” Hank shut the bedroom door behind him, and Connor sighed. Hank was right. After looking through his fridge for the eggs this morning, Connor realized that Hank was in desperate need of more food. Besides, it would be nice to finally pick out some things for himself. He had no idea what, of course, but at least he would get the opportunity.

He smiled to himself. He would get to make some choices for himself. He was on the path to create Connor.


	3. Chapter 3

“Alright, go nuts, kid.” Hank and Connor stepped through the automatic doors of the boutique and Connor stared, wide-eyed. There were so many options. He hardly knew where to start.

After a minute of watching Connor scan the room without moving, Hank smiled slightly to himself and shook his head. “Why not start with some clothes for work?”

Connor turned to the detective and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Work?”

“The DPD, dumbass,” Hank rolled his eyes.

“You…You really think that they’ll reinstate me after all of this?” 

“I’m not gonna give ‘em a choice,” Hank scoffed, then nodded in the direction of the suit jackets. “C’mon now, kid. Pick something out.”

Connor smiled widely at the detective and sped off towards the suits. Hank shook his head and followed the android, who was staring bright-eyed at every jacket that he picked up. After he settled on a few black and gray jackets, Hank ushered him to the dress shirt section, and Connor nearly glitched out with joy. There were so many colors and styles to choose from, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. 

“Try ‘em on, Con.” Hank smiled at the young android whose arms were piled high with clothing. Connor looked over at the dressing room, then back at Hank. “Go on,” Hank reassured him and walked over with him. “I’ll be right here,” He propped himself against the doorway of the rooms. “Let me see what you’ve got.”

Careful to keep the beanie secured on his head, Connor tried on everything at his disposal. He wasn’t expecting to have so much fun with this activity. The approving nods from Hank only made his grin wider.

The two men walked out with over a dozen outfits for the young detective. Connor’s nervous looks at Hank when the price popped up on the screen were ignored, and Hank quickly settled the bill without a second’s thought. Connor needed this.

Connor carried the bags around gleefully through the mall as they walked on, swinging them ever so slightly. Hank noticed of course, but only smiled to himself. He felt a warmth inside of him that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He had never seen the kid this happy before.

Connor’s joy quickly turned to fear.

_Stress Level: 70% and rising_  
_Attempt to Lower Stress before reaching Critical Level_

Connor swallowed hard as they walked past the vacant CyberLife outlet in the mall. The room was dark. The androids were no longer on display. The sign outside merely flickered, barely clinging on to life. Connor shuddered as he looked in, his pace letting up.

Hank placed a reassuring hand on the android’s back and willed him forward. Connor eased at the touch, and continued forward, forcing his gaze away from the store.  
They continued out of the mall, groceries and clothing in tow. Connor sat contently in the passenger’s seat as the heavy metal blared on the radio. He watched out of the window as they passed through downtown.

He was thankful that the ruins and remains had been all but cleaned up at this point. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done with himself if he had to pass by all of the murdered androids, bodies lying helplessly in the streets, where no one cared enough to even find them a proper resting place. 

The streets of Detroit weren’t nearly as lively as they usually were. Most people remained in their homes out of fear. A few soldiers dotted the streets, brandishing their weapons in case anyone got the wrong idea. There were still people out and about, determined to carry out their daily business. The one thing that was absent all together was androids. 

The android parking remained vacant. Construction sites were abandoned. Shops had gone dark. Connor wondered if androids were out of sight because they were free, or because they were afraid. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answer.

They arrived home just as it began to snow again. Hank pushed open the front door and Sumo came barreling out again. It seemed that Hank had gotten catching the Saint Bernard down to a science at this point, barely blinking as he caught him. 

“Head on in, Con. I’ll grab the rest of the groceries from the car.” Hank huffed as he struggled to hold Sumo back.

Connor slipped through the front door and stopped at the couch, realizing that he had no idea where to put his new belongings. It’s not like the living room had a closet, after all.  
Hank dropped Sumo, who immediately charged Connor’s legs. He struggled to maintain composure as Sumo whacked his bodyweight lovingly against his knees, begging for attention. 

“Down, Sumo,” Hank grumbled, and the Saint Bernard sat obediently at Connor’s feet, looking up at him expectantly. Hank struggled to close the door with his foot as he hefted the grocery bags inside. Connor plopped his bags down on top of the couch and rushed to help Hank to stabilize the bags in his hands. “I got it, Con.” Hank insisted as a can of soup rolled out of the bag and Connor quickly caught it. “Thanks,” He grumbled and set the groceries down on the table. 

Hank opened the fridge as the unloaded the groceries, spotting an unopened beer sitting in the back. He snatched it up and pulled it out of the fridge, only to be met with a sad puppy-dog look from Connor, who was halfway through putting something in an overhead cabinet. Hank stared back, like he had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but held tightly to the bottle. 

“Don’t look at me like that, Connor.” Hank grumbled, and Connor merely tilted his head slightly.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to, Hank,” Connor blinked in feigned innocence.

“For fuck’s sake,” Hank grumbled and threw the beer back in the fridge and slammed it shut. “Happy now?” He threw his hands out to his sides. 

“I certainly have nothing to be _unhappy_ about,” Connor smirked, and Hank rolled his eyes and waved his hand absently at him.

“Whatever,” Hank mumbled under his breath and smiled slightly to himself.

Connor placed the last of the groceries in the cabinet and Hank made his way over to the couch.

“Why the fuck’d you put these here?” Hank scoffed at the bags on the couch.

“I wasn’t sure where else to put them,” Connor shrugged and tugged at his sleeve.

“In the closet,” Hank shook his head and threw the bags to Connor. “There should be some spare hangars.”

Connor held the bags tightly in his hands. “I don’t want to take up all of your space,” He said sheepishly.

“Well, it’ll have to do for now. We need to head out to the hardware store soon anyway,” Hank plopped down on the couch and flicked on the TV.

Connor scanned the room for a brief moment. “I’m not sure where you think that an extra storage space will fit,” He admitted after taking a good look around.

“I’ve been meaning to add on a new addition around back for years,” Hank shrugged. “It was supposed to be a home office, but Lord knows I don’t need to bring work home with me. I’ve got the plans all made up. You’re just gonna have to help me pick out the colors you want for the walls and shit.”

“Oh,” Connor couldn’t help but smile. A room, just for him. He could hardly believe it. Maybe once it was finished, he could finally forget about the closet CyberLife had kept him in.

“Think you can handle that?” Hank looked over at Connor, who was still holding his bags and smiling to himself.

“I think so,” He beamed.

“Good,” Hank huffed and turned back to the TV. “But just warning you now, Sumo’s never going to let you sleep alone again once you get your own bed.” 

“I think I can handle that also,” Connor looked down at the Saint Bernard sleeping quietly by Hank’s feet. 

“Just go ahead and stow your shit in my closet for now,” Hank motioned to his room without looking. “We can get started on it tomorrow.”

Connor couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he trotted off to the bedroom, unloading his new possessions. He carefully hung up all of his new jackets and shirts for works, making sure to hang them neatly on the opposite side of Hank’s flamboyant shirts. He tucked his new pants and shoes in the drawers right alongside Hank’s, contented at the contrast, yet similarity, between them. He slipped on a new pair of sweatpants and a soft ‘Dog Lover’ shirt that he insisted Hank buy. He pulled on a soft new pair of wool socks over his feet and tucked the beanie that had been sitting on his head in with the socks. He ran his fingers through his synthetic hair, letting the rogue lock bounce back onto his forehead. 

Comfortable and content, he headed back out into the living room. He could already hear Sumo’s tail thudding rapidly against the hardwood floor as he approached.  
Connor’s euphoria was quickly interrupted by a soft “Holy shit” from Hank.

“Hank?” Connor asked warily as he stepped out into the living room, scanning immediately for potential threats.

“Sit down, kid, c’mere.” Hank kept his gaze fixed on the TV and motioned for Connor to sit beside him. Connor hesitantly sat down next to the detective, who turned up the volume on the TV.  
“Breaking News,” The newscaster spoke firmly. “After the first day of conferencing with the android leader, Markus, the president has ordered the immediate cease of android production, along with the shutdown of CyberLife,” Connor’s synthetic breath caught in his throat. As much as relief flooded over him, the realization that there would be total lack of android support without CyberLife slapped him in the face.

“W-what does this mean?” Connor turned frantically to Hank, unable to process all of the emotions swirling through his brain.

“I don’t know, Con,” Hank admitted. “But we’re going to figure it out, alright?” He placed a reassuring hand on Connor’s shoulder, and Connor’s stress level started to even off. 

“Alright,” Connor managed to spit out as he tried to catch his breath again. “Okay,” He nodded, trying to push all of the negative thoughts out of his mind. He knew that he needed to focus on all of the good things instead. 

“I’m just getting word in now that due to the android’s demands, the industrial operations and CyberLife Tower is now being occupied by the revolutionary androids under the name ‘Jericho’,” The newscaster continued after a brief pause. “Markus has asked to make it known that Jericho, previously known as CyberLife Tower, will serve as a refuge for any android for the time being,”  
Jericho. Connor felt the memories of the ship flood back into his mind. He twirled the end of his shirt between his fingers and forced himself to focus on the sensation, just as Hank had taught him.  
“More information will be broadcasted as soon as we have it. This is Lydia Norris with channel—” The newscaster was cut short by the TV going black. Hank set the remote down on the end table and turned his attention to Connor.

“You alright, son?” Hank asked, his voice heavy with concern, watching as Connor’s LED cycled yellow.

“I—Yes, I’m alright,” Connor breathed out, shutting his eyes tightly. Hank held onto Connor’s shoulder gingerly, watching him wordlessly.

The two sat in silence, Hank not daring to say a word. After what felt like an eternity, Connor finally piped up again.

“Amanda,” He said quietly, opening his eyes and looking at Hank.

“The woman from the pictures in Kamski’s house,” Hank remembered quickly, having taken note of the android’s strange behavior back at the mansion.

“Kamski… developed an AI based on her. She was the head of investigating deviancy in CyberLife androids,” Connor explained. Hank listened intently, waiting patiently for him to continue. “I reported to her and had frequent meetings with her,” Tears began to well up in his eyes and he could feel his stress level rising steadily. “When Markus—” He choked back a sob. “When Markus was speaking to the androids that I liberated from the tower, Amanda forced me into a meeting with her,” Connor felt the tears beginning to flow freely from his eyes. He turned his gaze to the floor, shivering as he remembered the cold. The wind biting at his cheeks. The snow blowing into his eyes and blinding him. He shuddered.

Hank watched his LED flash red, then settle on the crimson color. He rubbed his hand up and down Connor’s arm, trying to pull him back to reality. 

“She—she took control of my systems. She trapped me in the frozen wasteland in my mind. She almost—” Connor paused and sniffled.

_Stress Level: 95% and rising_  
_WARNING! STRESS LEVELS AT CRITICAL_  
_LOWER STRESS LEVELS IMMEDIATELY_

Connor blinked away the warning and dug his fingernails into his palms.

“Hey, hey, easy son,” Hank cooed, watching Connor shift. He slid off the couch and knelt down in front of Connor, taking his hands in his own. He forced Connor to uncurl his fingers. “Take it easy, Connor. She can’t hurt you anymore, alright?” He said, frantically trying to lower the android’s stress levels. “Focus on what’s right here, remember? What do you feel, Con?”

Connor blinked away tears and looked at Hank, his head pulsing. He felt Hank’s calloused hands clasped around his own. He rubbed his soft woolen socks against each other. He sniffled and felt the cool air entering his artificial lungs. 

“That’s it. That’s it, son,” Hank sighed as he saw Connor’s LED cycle back to yellow.

“She almost made me kill Markus,” He felt the words tumble out of his mouth, but it didn’t feel like he spoke them. It didn’t feel real. It couldn’t be real. He shuddered and pulled his hands away from Hank’s, standing up abruptly.

“Connor,” Hank warned, standing up with the android and gripping his shoulders. “Connor, look at me,” Hank’s voice raised in an attempt to get the android’s gaze to focus on him again instead of wandering around the room. Connor’s LED now flashed a vibrant red. Hank swallowed hard. “Connor, look at me,” Hank shook the android slightly and Connor’s eyes locked onto his. Hank’s heart shattered as he saw the pain that was overwhelming Connor. 

Connor squirmed out of Hank’s grasp and bolted for the kitchen. Hank swore and snatched the blanket from the back of the couch and sped after him. Connor ripped open the utensil drawer and dug through it until his fingers curled around a kitchen knife. He picked up the glistening blade and held it up to the light, just as Hank barreled into the kitchen and wrapped the blanket tightly around the android’s upper body. The knife clattered to the floor and Hank twisted Connor away from the counter, constricting his arms with the blanket. With a swift motion of his foot, he swept Connor’s legs out from under him and set him as gently as he could on the floor. Connor squirmed, but Hank managed to tuck the blanket tightly around his upper body.

“Connor, look at me, son,” Hank persisted, kneeling over the struggling android. “Connor!” He yelled and Connor’s eyes finally met his. 

Connor breathed heavily, his arms still thrashing despite being pinned against his torso. When his eyes locked with Hank’s he felt something inside him soften. He stopped struggling and attempted to regulate his staggered breathing again.

“That’s it, Con,” Hank breathed, maintaining eye contact with the android while watching for the LED to change color out of the corner of his eye. “Breathe, Connor,” He said softly, watching as Connor tried desperately to steady his breathing. “Deep breath in, deep breath out,” He instructed and breathed slowly, Connor shakily trying to match his breathing. Connor rubbed his feet together again, taking note of the softness. Slowly, his LED cycled back to yellow.

_  
Stress Level: 30% and dropping_

“She can’t hurt you anymore, Connor,” Hank reassured him. “CyberLife’s been shut down. Markus and his crew are in charge now. He’s okay, you’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” Hank cooed. He sighed in relief as the LED finally cycled back to a calming blue.

“Hank?” Connor squeaked. “Can I get up now?”

“Are you going to try and hurt yourself?” Hank asked, hoping that the color of his LED had already given him the information he needed, but wanting to double check.

“No,” Connor shook his head.

“Promise?” Hank asked firmly.

“I promise, Hank,” Connor nodded, and Hank hesitantly stood up and unrolled Connor from the blanket. “Thank you,” Connor breathed, brushing the dirt off his pants as he stood up.

“Don’t do that to me again, okay kid?” Hank shook his head and pulled Connor into a tight embrace.

“I will do my best to avoid it,” Connor sunk into the hug.

“Good,” Hank muttered and let him go. “Why don’t you go take a nice warm shower, Con?”

“Hank, I don’t require the same hygiene habits that—”

“No,” Hank interrupted him and put his hand up. “Nah, I know that, kid. But a nice warm shower can help ya relax and wash off the day. It doesn’t hurt to give it a try,” Hank smiled gently, and Connor nodded and returned his smile. “There should be some towels in there already,” Hank patted Connor on the shoulder and headed back to the couch.

“Thank you, Hank,” Connor breathed. “For everything.”

“Don’t mention it, kid,” Hank huffed as he plopped back down in front of the TV, throwing the blanket over the back of the couch. “Now go get cleaned up.”

Connor nodded and smiled at the detective before making his way to the bathroom. He started up the hot water and braced himself against the sink, staring at his reflection.  
Hank was right. Amanda was gone. She couldn’t hurt him anymore. Markus was safe. He was going to make sure that everything would be okay.

He thought back to the conversation they had before they departed. Markus had offered him a position in the ‘council’ of androids that they were creating. He politely declined. He couldn’t be surrounded by those he once was sworn to hunt. 

He couldn’t admit it to himself then, but he knew know that it was because he was afraid. He was afraid of what they might think of him. He was afraid of more damage that he could cause. He was afraid to make himself a target for those against androids. He knew that he was probably selfish for thinking the last part, but if he was gone, who would be around to take care of Hank? He had to make sure that the Lieutenant stayed out of trouble. 

The glass began to fog up, and Connor figured that the water must be warm enough at that point. He reached into the shower and let the water flow over his fingertips. Hank was right. This was already soothing.

He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the warm water, already feeling some tension leaving his stiff synthetic muscles. He could hear his cooling fans kicking in to combat the heat, but he didn’t mind. It wasn’t hot enough for him to shut down. He ran his fingers through his synthetic hair, letting the warm water wash over it. He found some of Hank’s shampoo on the shelf, and he decided that it couldn’t hurt to wash his hair, either. He massaged in the bubbles and smiled to himself as he rinsed them out. It was so warm. So different from the icy garden that Amanda had abandoned him in. He was safe here. He was safe in Hank’s house. Hank would protect him.

After he was sufficiently warmed up and clean, he switched off the water and toweled himself dry. He slipped his clothes back on and wiped the fog off the mirror. He smiled to himself as he saw the waves of his hair that weren’t there before. He no longer had the CyberLife hair gel to keep it slick and neat. The same curl that always swept across his forehead remained, bouncing as he tugged on it.  
He brushed his fingers through his curly hair again and made his way into the living room, slowing as he heard the soft snoring coming from the couch. He crept around it quietly to find Hank’s head tilted over the top of the sofa, eyes closed softly. Connor smiled and gently lifted the detective’s head and feet to lay him down across the couch, careful not to disturb him. Hank stirred slightly but settled back in quickly. Connor pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it softly across the slumbering detective.

He turned to walk away and nearly knocked over the bottle of beer sitting on the floor, unopened. Connor shook his head and smiled slightly before returning it to the fridge. Old habits die hard, but at least the lieutenant was trying his hardest. He flicked off the TV, then the lights. 

Connor’s LED cycled to yellow for a brief second as he realized that the lieutenant was now occupying his bed. He figured that Hank wouldn’t mind if he settled into his bed for the night, but he didn’t want to encroach on his territory, either. Instead, he pulled out another blanket from the linen closet and settled down on the ground next to the couch. He curled up nice and tight and wrapped the blanket around his arms, smiling contently. Sumo trotted over and snuggled up beside him. Connor wrapped his arms around the Saint Bernard and let himself fall into stasis until morning.  
He was safe here. Everything was going to be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

Hank rubbed his eyes blearily and wondered why his back was aching so badly. He rolled over slightly and his eyes set on the TV in front of him. He knitted his brows together before realizing that he had woken up on the couch. He was accustomed to waking up in strange places, but he didn’t have the usual nausea and headache that came with the drinking that got him to those places. He heard Sumo shift by his feet and he turned to look at him, only to find Connor’s arms wrapped around him. He grinned and slid the cellphone out of his back pocket and snapped a quick picture. He had to remember to do that more often. 

He looked back at the pictures of Cole all the time, wishing he had taken more. He wasn’t going to miss his opportunity this time. 

Connor’s LED started cycling blue and Hank cursed inwardly. Connor slowly opened his big brown eyes and relaxed his grip on the Saint Bernard. 

“Hank?” He asked groggily as his eyes locked on the lieutenant. “Good morning, Hank.” He smiled and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t realized how much of his energy had been drained by the incident the night before. 

“Connor, what the hell are you doing on the floor?” Hank asked, barely able to keep up the façade that he was upset with the android.

“Well, you fell asleep on the couch, and I didn’t want to disturb you,” Connor sat up, making his case in such a matter-of-fact type of way.

“Mhm,” Hank mumbled, shaking his head. “And you didn’t take my bed because— wait” Hank propped himself up on his arm. “Is your hair _curly_?” He squinted his eyes and reached out to tug on the waves.

“Apparently so,” Connor beamed. “Part of my start-up routine was to slick my hair with CyberLife gel to keep it neat and proper. I suspect that it was naturally curly to produce the stray curl on my forehead which maintained a non-threatening appearance.”

“Right,” Hank shook his head. “Guess that shower did more than I thought,” He muttered and pushed himself to sit up straight, his back tweaking painfully as he did so.  


“You’re hurt,” Connor’s LED cycled to yellow as he shot up to help Hank.

“No, no, I’m alright,” Hank grunted as he sat himself up, Connor’s hands ghosting his arms as he did so. “It’s called getting old,” He grumbled and ran his fingers through his hair.  


“I’ll make you some breakfast,” Connor started quickly off to the kitchen.

“Ah ah ah!” Hank interrupted him and Connor stopped in his tracks. “That’s okay, Connor. I can just grab something when we go out. I promised you a trip to the hardware store today, right?” He rubbed his eyes again, still trying to wake all the way up.

Connor beamed from the kitchen. “I’ll go change and get ready,” He dashed off to Hank’s room, and Hank couldn’t help but smile. 

Deviant Connor was a helluva lot more agreeable than ‘stick-up-his-ass’ Connor. That’s one thing that Hank knew for sure. The other thing that he knew for sure was that Connor wasn’t going to have an easy transition into deviancy. There were still so many things that the young android had yet to experience, had yet to feel. Hank just hoped that he could handle it as it came.

As quickly as Connor had disappeared into Hank’s bedroom, he reappeared, now clad in jeans and a black t-shirt that read ‘I heart Detroit’. 

“Ready!” Connor beamed.

“You’d better grab a sweatshirt, or you’re going to freeze to death in just that winter jacket,” Hank warned.

“But Hank, I—”

“No buts, Connor!” Hank said firmly and Connor narrowed his eyes at the detective, then sprinted off towards the bedroom again, returning with a Detroit Police Academy sweatshirt. “Better,” Hank nodded, and the smile returned to Connor’s face. He plopped down on the couch next to the detective and folded his hands in his lap.

Hank sat idly for a minute, watching Connor fidgeting with his thumbs. Connor looked up at him and titled his head slightly.

“Alright, alright!” Hank mumbled as he forced himself off the couch. “I’ll go get ready.”

“Thanks, Hank!” Connor grinned at the older man and sat patiently on the couch. Today was going to be a good day.

*

Two by Fours. Hank said that they needed ‘a couple’a Two by Fours’, Connor remembered. He scanned the aisle for the wooden planks before his eyes caught on the boards. He picked up six of them at once and loaded them in the cart, a smile plastered on his face. He was going to get his own space. He and Hank were going to build it.

The smile disappeared as he turned around and saw the shell-shocked employee standing behind him. “Oh,” Connor said, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. “Is there something that I can help you with?”

“You—you just lifted all of those boards like they were nothing,” The employee sputtered. “You…you’re not human.” The employee’s eyes widened with the sudden realization. Connor opened his mouth to offer a retort, but the employee scrambled away.

_Stress Level: 45% and rising_

Why was that employee so afraid of him? He hadn’t done anything wrong.

He pulled the beanie further down his forehead and pushed the cart down the aisle. He still had a few more things to pick up before he met back up with Hank. No sense in worrying about one person’s reaction.

He turned the corner to go down another aisle when he nearly collided with another customer.

“Sorry,” Connor offered a soft smile and a sheepish apology to the leather-clad man with the thick brown beard.

“You’d better be,” The man stepped forward and Connor pulled the cart back a step with him. “I heard that employee. You’re not human, are you?” He stepped forward again, and Connor took another step back.

“I don’t understand,” Connor said, narrowing his eyes at the man. There was no use in lying, but he also didn’t feel the need to be outright honest, either.

“Take off that hat, and we’ll see if we can get a better understanding.” The man stepped towards Connor again, who backed into the shelf behind him. The man towered over the android.

_Jenkins, Ulrich_  
_Born 10/07/2001 // Unemployed_  
_Criminal Record: Assault, Domestic Abuse_

“C’mon, don’t be shy,” Jenkins took another step forward.

“Listen, you have _no_ right to talk to me that way,” Connor put up a hand, trying to keep Jenkins at bay. “I don’t want any trouble, and I didn’t do anything to you.” 

“No, but your people did,” Jenkins snarled. “You fucking androids took everything from me. And now you want more?!”

Jenkins took another step forward and time slowed. Connor knew that he could defend himself. But, with everything the way that it was, did he really want to risk Jenkins twisting the story to his advantage.

What was the alternative? Let himself be beat to a pulp?

He didn’t like his options. The only thing that he could think to do was dodge the attacks and find Hank.

Jenkins rushed at him, and Connor ducked and side-stepped the advance. Jenkins pushed off the shelf and started pursuing the fleeing android.  
Connor turned down another aisle, thirium pump kicking into high gear.

_Stress Level: 70% and rising_

Connor cursed inwardly and ran down another aisle. He sped around the corner only to crash into another customer. He fell to the ground and scrambled to get back to his feet. The man he crashed into seemed unphased. 

_Stevens, Gabriel_  
_Born 12/18/1998 // Unemployed_  
_Criminal Record: Gang activity, Assault_

Connor turned on his heel only to come face to face with Jenkins once again.

Stevens ripped the beanie off of his head, releasing the curls and the bright red LED.

“I knew it,” Jenkins snarled. Stevens snatched Connor’s arms and tucked them painfully behind the android’s back. Connor struggled as Jenkins drew nearer.

Should he defend himself? Or would he only be fueling the fire?

“Hank!” Connor cried out, only to be met with a fist connecting with his cheekbone. 

He felt the explosive pain wave across his face, just as a knee connected with his chest. Stevens threw him to the ground and he landed with a harsh thud. A dozen warning messages popped up across his vision. He blinked them away and scrambled to catch his breath and his footing.

A shark kick to his torso knocked him back to the ground. The pain radiated from his side as he felt something inside of him crack. He struggled to bring himself to his hands and knees as he felt two strong hands grip his shoulders, ripping him from the ground and throwing him backwards.

He slid across the concrete floor and his head connected with a support pillar. His vision went red for a brief second, then his vision flooded with more warnings. He could feel the trickle of thirium from the back of his head as he struggled to push himself onto his hands and knees again. Through blurry eyes, he saw Jenkins and Stevens approach him, and he quickly abandoned the task in favor of curling up on himself, trying desperately to protect his thirium pump. 

He squeezed his eyes shut as their boots connected with his body, sending new levels of pain searing through his body. 

He didn’t do anything wrong. That’s all that he could think. He didn’t do anything to provoke them. Though the thoughts of everything he had ever done that hurt someone else crept to the front of his mind, he pushed those thoughts away and secured himself to the fact that these men didn’t hate of for what he did. They hated him for existing. And that wasn’t something he could help.

_Stress Level: 88% and rising_  
_Warning! Lower Stress Level_  
_Reaching Critical Levels_

“Hey!” Even through the static that was starting to build in his audio processors, he could still hear Hank’s voice ringing out. “DPD, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Suddenly the blows stopped. He could hear footsteps clambering away distantly. 

“Jesus,” He felt a hand lay softly on his shoulder. He tensed up at the touch. “It’s me, son. It’s Hank.” Hank cooed.

Connor peeked his head around his shoulder and Hank’s heart dropped. “Hank?” Connor whispered.

“Yeah, Connor. It’s me.” He could feel rage rising up in his chest as he saw the thirium leaking from Connor’s nose.

_Stress Level: 76% and dropping_

Hank breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Connor’s LED cycle back to yellow.

“They attacked me, Hank. I didn’t—I didn’t do anything,” Connor whimpered, struggling to roll himself onto his back to face Hank.

“Hey, hey, don’t move just yet,” Hank warned, putting his other hand firmly on Connor’s thigh. “I know, kid. I know it’s not your fault. They’re sacks of shit, and they’ll get what’s coming to ‘em.” He cursed inwardly at himself for not catching the perps.

“J-Jenkins and Stevens,” Connor stuttered, coughing up thirium. 

“You id’d them?” Hank sat back in disbelief. “Nice going,” He smiled slightly despite himself. “Alright, what’s the damage, Con? Do I need to call Markus?”

“No,” Connor shook his head, blinking away a few more error messages. “No, I’ll be okay. They didn’t do any major damage to my biocomponents,” He assured Hank and once again struggled to flip onto his back. Hank helped him this time, scanning him for any additional visual damage.

“Can you walk?” Hank asked, noticing the darkening patch of skin around Connor’s eye.

“Yes,” Connor coughed up a little more thirium, then nodded. “Yes, I think so.” 

Hank extended a hand and helped Connor to his feet. When he noticed the android sway slightly, he immediately slipped an arm around his waist and draped Connor’s arm around his shoulder.  
“Do me a favor and save all the stuff in my cart, alright? I’ll be back for it later,” Hank called over his shoulder to the scared employee that had spotted Connor earlier. They nodded and watched Connor with concern.

Hank helped the stumbling android out of the store and propped him up against the side of the car. He opened the door and ushered Connor inside, fastening his seatbelt for him despite his protests. He shook his head and walked around to his side of the car. He was going to get the sons of bitches that were responsible for this.

“’m sorry, Hank.” Connor breathed, feeling his energy draining quickly from attempting repairs while awake.

“You ain’t got nothing to be sorry about, kid,” Hank insisted, then added. “Well, except for not beating the shit outta them. So, what give, Connor? I’ve seen you beat the living daylights out of people with triple their experience, and ten times their strength.”

“I—I didn’t want to make things worse,” Connor let his head hang low, struggling to keep it up and his eyes open at the same time. Hank shook his head. He knew that the last thing the revolution needed was a former DPD android raising Cain and beating the shit out of two civilians. It didn’t matter how it happened; Hank knew that it would get spun to scare people.

Looking over at Connor, Hank could only sigh. How is it fair that Connor can’t defend himself? How could it be fair that he somehow could turn the tides of the revolution by simply standing his ground?  


“You alright there, Connor?” Hank asked, noticing the android seemingly nodding off.

“Hm?” Connor asked groggily, struggling to turn his head towards Hank. “I’m alright, I am just running out of battery life, as these repairs are draining it fast.”

“Should I be worried if you pass out?” Hank asked, concern growing in his voice. He was no android technician. He had no idea how the hell to repair a broken one, let alone how they operated.  


“No,” Connor shook his head slowly. “I just need to enter stasis mode to… to complete my repairs,” Connor continued, his eyelids growing heavy as more warning signs flashed across his vision. “I’m simply attempting to wait until… until we arrive home,”

“Connor, if you can’t wait until then, you don’t have to worry about—” Hank looked over and noticed that the android was already out cold. “Okay,” He grumbled. “Guess I’ll have to carry you in myself, then.” He could already hear his aching back screaming for mercy.


	5. Chapter 5

_Systems restarting_   
_//_   
_Reboot Successful……_   
_Thirium Levels at 70%_   
_Please replenish at earliest convenience_   
_//_

Connor’s eyes fluttered open and he found himself resting on Hank’s bed. How had he gotten there? Why was he there?

His memory seemed to be lagging just a bit. He closed his eyes tightly and scanned his recent storage, and everything came flooding back. He had to pull himself out of the memory at the feeling of excruciating pain.

His eyes snapped back open and he sat himself up in bed. His movements were a bit sluggish at the loss of thirium, but thankfully all of his wounds were mostly healed over. He rubbed the back of his head gingerly, only to find it to be not the least bit tender. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and his eyes caught on a bottle of thirium on the nightstand. He scanned it curiously, then downed the bottle. 

His processors let out a happy chirp, letting him know that his thirium levels were once again up to standard. 

He stood up slowly, still expecting his gyroscope to be malfunctioning slightly at the earlier jarring. To his surprise, it was fully operational. Another quick scan of his systems showed him that everything was in perfect working order, save for his still low battery.

But how? There was no way that he could handle all of the repairs so quickly on his own. And the bottle of thirium by the bedside was surely something that Hank wouldn’t just have laying around.   
Not to his surprise, he walked into the living room to find Markus and Hank chatting away on the couch.

“Connor,” Markus smiled warmly and greeted him. “Glad to see you up and about,”

“Connor,” Hank stood up quickly and rushed to meet Connor where he stood. “How’re you feeling, kid? Everything alright?” He scanned the android and placed a comforting hand on his arm.

“I’m alright, Lieutenant,” Connor didn’t look up at Hank, but instead kept his gaze focused on Markus. “You shouldn’t be here, Markus.” Connor said stiffly.

Hank was taken aback by the comment, but Markus merely narrowed his eyes curiously.

“That’s an awfully nice thing to say to the person that just helped you get back on your feet,” Hank scoffed. “Where the hell are your manners, kid? Did something get knocked loose earlier?”  
Connor brushed off Hank’s comments and kept his eyes on the other android.

“Care to speak privately, Connor?” Markus asked stoically. 

“I would like that very much,” Connor nodded and Hank stared at him in disbelief.

After a moment of silence, Hank shrugged and sighed. “Well, I guess I was going to have to head back to the hardware store eventually anyway,” He pat Connor’s arm comfortingly and headed for the door. “You two behave,” Hank said, shooting one last warning glance at Connor before snatching his coat and heading out the front door.

“Come sit, Connor,” Markus ushered toward the vacant seat beside him with his head. Connor reluctantly sat down, arms crossed over his chest.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Connor repeated, keeping a stern expression on his face.

Markus sighed and offered a slight smile in response. “Did you want to talk about it?” He asked quietly and Connor looked away quickly. Markus extended his hand to Connor, synthetic skin receding and revealing the true white skin of the android. Connor reluctantly took his hand, his own synthetic skin rushing away from his hand.

As soon as the two began to interface, Connor felt a tidal wave of emotions wash over him. Most of them were relief, he decided, but there was a lot of pain. A lot of heartbreak and loss.  
Markus pulled his hand away, the synthetic skin rushing back over it. 

“I’m not afraid of you, Connor,” Markus cooed. “What you just showed me? It wasn’t your fault,” He continued soothingly, but Connor could still feel tears welling up in his eyes. “Amanda was controlling you. You had no intent to harm me,” He reassured him. “And after all, I’m still here, aren’t I? You saved me, Connor. You’re one of the good guys,” Connor looked up at Markus, the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes at any moment.

Connor could feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders. Markus finally knew. And he wasn’t even upset.

“That doesn’t change the fact that there are people out there that are trying to hunt you down,” Connor said, wiping the stray tears away with his jacket sleeve. “There are people out there that want you dead, Markus. You should stay where you’re safe.” Connor insisted.

“Connor,” Markus shook his head and smiled. “There’s a target on my head simply because I exist, just like you. I don’t know if that’s ever going to change. But you know what we can change? We can show the world that we aren’t afraid. We have to keep showing them that we’re alive. We have to show them that we deserve to be free and equal,” He paused. “I’m not going to hide away in Jericho because it’s dangerous to go outside. I’m going to keep trying everything I can to make a difference in the world.”

“But that doesn’t mean that you should put yourself in extra danger.” Connor said firmly.

“I’m making a statement,” Markus sighed. “I’m showing them that I’m not afraid, because I’m not. And I know that you aren’t, either.” He smiled. “Look at this life you’re building for yourself, Connor. You aren’t afraid to be yourself. You aren’t afraid to _find_ yourself. You aren’t afraid to be alive. And that’s what we need to show the world.” 

Connor nodded slowly. Markus was right.

“I know that everything is just a little unstable right now,” Markus continued. “And I know that you’re confused, and I know that you’re scared. We all are. Hell, I bet you could feel my fear when we interfaced. But that’s not going to stop me. And it shouldn’t stop you, either,” Markus took Connor’s hand reassuringly. “You’ve got a good thing going here, Connor. Seems like the Lieutenant’s gruff sense of ‘tough love’ is rubbing off on you, too,” They both chuckled. “Focus on the good things, Connor. When you’re feeling down, remember all that you have.” Markus squeezed Connor’s hand tightly and stood up from the couch.

“I should really get going. They want me to continue with negotiations early in the morning,” Connor stood up to show him out. “I’ve left a box of some thirium and some spare parts for you in case anything happens and I can’t be here,” He squeezed Connor’s shoulder. “Take care of yourself, Connor. Be brave. We’re making the world a better place. All of us. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything, alright?”

“Understood,” Connor smiled and Markus smiled warmly in return. Markus turned to walk out. “Be careful, Markus,” Connor said quietly and Markus looked over his shoulder at him. “We all need you.”

“I will be,” Markus chuckled softly. “See ya around, Connor.” He shut the door softly behind him. 

Connor sat himself down on the couch and Sumo immediately hopped up to snuggle with him. Connor laid down and nuzzled his head into the dog’s fur and drifted slowly back into stasis mode to recharge his battery. 

He could feel Sumo’s rhythmic breathing and he smiled to himself. Comfort washed over him and he snuggled against the Saint Bernard tighter. Markus was right. Everything was going to be okay. And he knew what he had to do.


	6. Chapter 6

“Careful, Connor,” Hank warned, watching the android perch precariously on the edge of the scaffolding.

“I know, Hank,” Connor replied quietly, scanning the structure of the new addition. It was mostly bare bones at the moment, but Connor took the time to construct it in his mind, and he smiled to himself.

“I take that as we’re on the right track?” Hank asked, drawing closer to the scaffolding and wiping his brow. 

“I would say so,” Connor beamed and stood up straight on the edge, then stepped backwards gracefully, catching himself easily on the ground.

“Jesus,” Hank felt his heart stop as he watched the android. “Fucking,” He threw his hands to his head and had to turn himself around to prevent himself from cursing Connor out. “You can’t just _walk_ of the scaffolding, Connor,” He breathed, furrowing his brow.

“I assure you that it’s perfectly safe,” Connor winked at him and straightened his winter jacket.

Hank rolled his eyes and shook his head. “ Alright, I need a break. It’s fucking freezing out here,” Hank rubbed his gloved hands together.

“I’ll join you in a minute,” Connor stood in the middle of the structure and looked around again.

“Don’t forget to turn of the generator when you come inside. It’s getting late anyway,” Hank muttered and headed inside.

Connor reconstructed the addition in his mind again, this time throwing in the bed and closets that he hoped to add on. Maybe he could even have a desk for working on cases?

He beamed and flipped off the ground-warming generator and took one last look around. The sun was hanging low above the horizon, spilling orange and pink around the neighborhood. The clouds were spotting the sky above, threatening to dump another load of snow on them at any second. But the colors of the sunset nearly made him forget about the threat of snow altogether.

He slipped through the backdoor that they installed to find Hank hunched over a cup of steaming coffee, watching the hockey game intently. Connor didn’t even look up at the game, but instead went straight to the fireplace and lit a nice fire to warm them up.

“Thanks,” Hank mumbled, relaxing his iron grip on the coffee mug slightly. Connor smiled and draped the blanket that hung over the couch on Hank’s shoulders. Hank muttered something out of gratitude, but it was so quiet that Connor’s sensors could barely even register it as a remark.

“Hey, don’t forget to drink your thirium,” Hank called over his shoulder as Connor stripped off his heavy winter jacket. “Markus said you should drink it once a week.”

“I know, Hank,” Connor chuckled and made his way to the fridge. In a moment of curiosity, he stuck the thirium bottle in the microwave for a few seconds, then plopped down on the couch next to Hank.

“Better than hot orange juice, huh?” Hank chuckled as he watched the android take a sip from the warm liquid.

“I wouldn’t know, and neither would you,” Connor shrugged slyly. “You never even tried it,” Hank rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the TV.

The duo sat in companionable silence as Sumo hopped up on the couch and rested his body across them, neither of them flinching as he did so. They simply both reflexively reached down to pet him.

The game was suddenly interrupted by a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ message flashing across the screen. Hank and Connor shared a worried glance before turning back to the TV.

“This just in, we’ve gotten word that the negotiations with the android leader, Markus, have officially come to a close today. The President, Congress, and the Android Council have created, and ratified, new amendments to the US Constitution outlining android rights.”

Connor closed his eyes and began scanning the Jericho database for a copy of the amendments and quickly came up with one.

“Some of the highlights include the end to the slavery of androids, the end to indentured servitude, and the right to equal pay to androids. Androids now retain the right to own property, as well as the right to legal counsel, and the right to free speech and assembly. More details on the freedoms and rights of androids are now posted online.”

Hank looked over to his android companion, whose eyes were shut tight, LED cycling yellow.

“Whatcha doing, Con?” Hank asked warily, mentally building the strength to restrain the android again.

“I’m reading through the amendments,” Connor stated plainly and Hank breathed out a sigh of relief.

“What’s the verdict?” Hank asked quietly, scanning Connor’s face for any type of expression.

“I—I can’t believe it,” Connor’s eyes opened and he smiled at Hank. “We’re really free.”

“Yeah kid, looks like it,” Hank smiled back, then pulled the android into a tight embrace. 

“Hank?” Connor whispered, still holding Hank tightly. “I’m scared,”

“I know, son. I know,” Hank rubbed Connor’s back comfortingly. “But we’re going to figure it out, okay?”

“I know,” Connor said softly, releasing Hank. “It’s just that—well, you saw how people reacted to us before. What do you think they’re going to do now?”

The pain in Connor’s voice pulled at Hank’s heartstrings. “I can’t say for sure, Con. I only know that I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe, alright?”

“Alright,” Connor smiled slightly. He knew that Hank would keep his word. 

“You know what we’re going to do tomorrow?” Hank asked and Connor merely tilted his head in response. “We’re going to march down to the precinct and we’re going to make you a detective.”

“I would like that,” Connor smiled widely, picturing himself investigating crime scenes with his partner again.

“Good,” Hank clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re not going to take no for an answer.”


	7. Chapter 7

Connor straightened the tie around his neck and felt for the smooth, silver coin in his pocket. Hank placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gave it a little shake.

“You’re going to be great, kid. Just ignore Reed and anyone else that gives you shit,” Hank said firmly. “And remember, you earned your place here, just like everyone else. Don’t let those fuckers tell you otherwise.”

Connor nodded and sucked in a deep synthetic breath, fixed a crease in his light blue dress shirt, and pushed the doors to the precinct open. 

All eyes turned to him and the Lieutenant as they stepped inside. Connor could feel his stress level rising, but Hank’s firm hand on his back kept him calm and secure as they walked to their desks. Connor could feel the icy stare of Detective Reed as he walked past, but he paid him no mind. Reed wasn’t important. What was important was that Connor was doing what he loved.

The two men sat down at their desks and Hank pulled a small bag out from underneath his.

“Here, kid,” He tossed the bag at Connor, who promptly caught it. “It’s for your first day on the job. I know it’s not much, but it’s a start.” Connor pulled a small picture frame from the bag, a picture of Hank, Sumo, and himself sitting inside.

Connor couldn’t suppress the smile that tugged at his lips. “Hank, thank you,” He stared down at the picture before propping it up and setting it gently on his desktop.

“There’s more,” Hank watched eagerly as Connor put his hand back in the bag and retrieved a small plastic Saint Bernard. The grin on Connor’s face widened as he set it next to the photograph.  


“I don’t know what to say,” Connor beamed at the detective.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Hank shook his head and waved his hand absently at the android before turning back to his monitor. “It was nothing.”

“Thank you,” Connor repeated, looking back down at his decorations. 

“Don’t thank me,” Hank said gruffly, running his fingers through the bristly hair on his chin as he looked at the monitor. “Get to work. We’ve got a lot to do. It’s almost like the world was holding its breath, waiting for the decision of the President. Now that she’s spoken her mind, it’s like all hell’s broken loose.”

Connor’s lips tightened into a frown. He thought back to the incident at the hardware store. That was just the tip of the iceberg, and he knew it. People were outraged that ‘machines’ now had rights. That there was no one left around to do their petty work for free. He knew that people were rioting. With one touch of a hand to his terminal, a case about a half dozen murdered androids popped up on his screen. He sighed. He knew it wouldn’t be the last.

“Jesus,” Hank muttered, undoubtedly looking at the caseload that he and Connor had to shoulder. The Captain had decided that the two should still be assigned to all android-related cases. Now that androids could legally press charges, cases were pouring in left and right. New cases, old cases. Their days were going to be filled with work from now on.

“We’re going to be here all night,” Hank sighed and started picking apart the first case file.

“I’ll grab you some coffee,” Connor stood up quickly and headed to the break room before the Lieutenant had a chance to argue. 

Connor swiftly made his way to the break room, trying to steady his breathing. The thought had hit him as he started scrolling through the cases, and now he couldn’t get it off his mind.

Even though he knew that CyberLife was shut down, he had the nagging feeling that they wouldn’t give up so easily. Their deviant hunter had failed. But the pit in his stomach told him that their plan didn’t end with him. Could they still be out there, hunting deviants?

Connor was pulled from his thoughts when he collided into Detective Reed in the break room. Connor opened his mouth to apologize when Reed grabbed him by the tie.

“Don’t you ever fucking watch where you’re going?” Reed snarled.

“My apologies, Detective. It was not my intention to—” 

“No, but it was your intention to waltz in here like you own the goddamn place,” Reed interrupted him sharply. “I worked for years to get this gig and you can just _have_ the job? Fucking plastic prick,” Reed snarled and pushed him away.

“I did not intend to take this job away from anyone, and it would be inaccurate to say that I don’t have ample experience,” Connor retorted, narrowing his eyes at the detective. “I know how to do my job, Detective.” Connor said firmly.

“Yeah, you’d better,” Reed sneered and snatched his cup of coffee from the machine. “And you’d better stay out of my fucking way while you’re at it.”

“Noted,” Connor said sharply and Reed muttered some curses and walked away.

Connor took a deep breath to settle himself again and got to work on the Lieutenant’s coffee. He remembered Hank’s words from earlier that morning. He earned his position on the force. No one was going to take that away from him.

The coffee brewed and Connor left the break room with a satisfied grin. He focused his attention forward, eager to get back to work now that he had pushed the thoughts about CyberLife away from him.

What he failed to push away from him was Detective Reed’s hand waiting to splash the coffee all down the front of Connor’s new shirt.

Regularly, Connor’s sensors would’ve picked up the activity and he could’ve easily prevented it. However, he wasn’t on alert mode since he didn’t expect any attack in the workplace.  
So, what he got was a hot-coffee stained shirt. He stared down at it in disbelief for a second, before the pain of the hot liquid kicked in. He let out a sharp gasp as it burned his torso.

“Stay the fuck out of my way.” Reed whispered coldly and walked away.

Connor stood frozen for a second before tossing the now-empty cup in the trash and returning to the breakroom for another. Carefully and vigilantly this time, he delivered the fresh coffee to Hank’s desk. Tears welling in his eyes, he set it down and Hank mumbled a thank you, not looking up from his monitor until he heard a sniffle from Connor. 

His head snapped around and he saw the coffee-soaked android. His gaze softened as he saw the tears in Connor’s eyes and the LED cycling yellow on his forehead. “Con, what happened?” Hank asked gently.

“I spilled,” Connor said stiffly. “I’m going to go to the restroom to wash up.” He turned quickly on his heel and walked swiftly to the bathroom.”

“Connor—” Hank called after him, standing up from his desk. He mumbled a few curses before following the android. He wasn’t really prepared to see the android sobbing softly as he dabbed a wet paper towel on his soaked shirt.

“Hey,” Hank said softly, putting a reassuring hand on Connor’s shoulder. “What’s going on, son?” 

Connor sniffled. “I spilled,” He repeated, tears leaking out of his eyes.

“You and I both know that you don’t just ‘spill’, Connor,” Hank sighed. “Here, let me help you,” He took the ends of Connor’s suit jacket and tugged it off. He loosened the android’s tie and pulled it over his head, then set it gently on the counter beside them.

Hank sighed. All the new emotions that Connor was feeling since becoming deviant were obviously very difficult for him to manage. But he couldn’t figure out what was making him so upset.

He helped Connor unbutton the dress shirt and pulled it off of him. He ran it under cold water as Connor watched on, still sniffling and crying. The undershirt he was wearing was soaked through too, and Hank’s mind immediately realized that he must’ve burned himself.

“How’s the pain, Con?” He asked, rubbing the fabric under the water.

“I-It’s okay,” Connor sniffled and reached for the silver coin in his pocket, hoping to soothe himself. 

“I’ll run home and grab you a change of clothes, alright?” Hank said gently.

“B-but…” Connor quietly protested, staring at the light blue shirt in Hank’s hands. 

“What, son?” Hank furrowed his brow.

“That’s my favorite shirt,” He sniffled.

“We’ll get you a new one, alright?” Hank said, gears in his head turning trying to figure out what was so special about the clearance dress shirt. “You can pick out a different color if you want, too.”

“No!” Connor sucked in a sharp breath. “No,” He repeated more quietly, embarrassed by his outburst. “No, I like that color. It’s…it’s a happy color,” He breathed, dropping his gaze to the floor when he realized the absurdity of his comment.

Hank nodded slowly, finally understanding. “Alright, kid. We’ll get you a new blue shirt,” Hank cooed. “You go ahead and compose yourself in here for a little bit. I’ll send someone to go get you a new shirt.” Connor managed a weak smile as he swiped away tears.

“Thank you, Hank,” He sniffled.

“Don’t mention it, kid.” Hank smiled and clapped Connor’s shoulder lightly.

Officer Miller peeked around the bathroom door, knocking lightly as he looked. Connor jumped and tried to rub all the rest of his tears out of his eyes. 

“I don’t mean to disturb you,” Miller took a step into the bathroom. “I just thought you could use this,” He produced a Detroit Police Academy sweatshirt and handed it off to Hank before disappearing back behind the door. 

“Here you go, kid.” Hank handed the sweatshirt off to Connor. “Give yourself a minute to get yourself together. Come on back when you’re ready.”

Hank left silently and Connor stared at his reflection. He was so embarrassed by his reaction to such a minor inconvenience. He knew that he shouldn’t have reacted the way that he did, but he couldn’t stop himself. Emotions just flooded his sensors, and he didn’t know how to handle himself. How did Markus do it? How was he always so composed?

Connor realized that he was still a young deviant, and a young android. He figured that he should cut himself some slack. He was still working things out. What was it that Markus told him? He told him to focus on the good. 

Connor thought back to the small figurine on his desk. To the picture frame that sat beside it. He sucked in a deep breath. He knew how to process the good emotions. He should start with those.  
After a few minutes, he slipped on the sweatshirt and wiped the last of the tears from his cheeks. He was going to be okay. 

He gathered up his things and went back to his desk, dropping them on the ground by his feet. Hank briefly glanced up, but figured it was better to give the android his space for the time being.  
Connor took another deep breath and set to work on his case files. After about thirty minutes of vigorous work, he was startled by a hand reaching over him, holding a bag from the clothing store. It dropped the bag on his desk, and he swiveled around to find a black-eyed Detective Reed rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Sorry,” He mumbled, refusing to meet the android’s eyes and actively avoiding the cold, hard stare of the Lieutenant. He sped away and Connor opened the bag to find an identical pale blue shirt in the bag. He smiled, and offered a wordless thank you to Hank, who returned the smile, then set back to work.

He knew Hank would take care of him.


	8. Chapter 8

“At this rate, we’ll be done with the new edition by spring,” Hank said, self-satisfied from the driver’s seat.

“I find it interesting that you bring that up on the way home from a gory crime scene,” Connor smirked, twirling the coin between his fingers.

“Well, I’ve got to do _something_ to keep my mind of’a that shit,” Hank shook his head and nearly gagged as he thought about the android massacre back at the apartment building.

Ever since the announcement of android’s rights, everyone could feel the change in the wind. Everyone knew that the anti-android movement was coming. But no one expected it to be this bad.

Hate crimes were committed all over the city. Humans took up arms and shot at every android that they could find. Markus was trying desperately to keep the android morale up, but that seemed to be getting more and more difficult to do.

“Have you picked out any pictures to hang on the walls?” Hank asked, trying to pull the android back into the moment.

“A few,” Connor smiled to himself, mentally constructing his room again.

“Good,” Hank nodded and smiled. “You can start putting things on the shopping list now. I’ll pick them up here and there. If you think of anything you want for your desktop, let me know that too. Maybe a nice whiteboard or something?” Hank asked, but got no response from the android. “Connor?” He asked, looking over at the android to find him staring straight ahead, eyes narrowed and LED cycling yellow. He knew that look. He was getting a message.

“Sorry, Hank. What was your question?” Connor blinked after a solid minute of motionlessness. 

“You alright, Connor?” Hank asked warily, knowing that it didn’t usually take that long for the kid to process transmissions.

“Quite alright,” Connor swallowed hard, his LED still cycling yellow. 

“Right,” Hank said sarcastically. “Because you seemed to glitch out a little bit ago,” Hank mused, probing lightly for answers. 

“I—I didn’t ‘glitch’ out,” Connor scoffed. “I was just…I was reading an incoming transmission,” He looked down at the silver coin in his hand.

“From…” Hank prompted, not willing to give up on the subject.

“From Jericho,” Connor sighed and finally relented. “They sent me a list of the new optional protocols that I can integrate into my systems,”

“English, Con.” Hank shook his head.

“Jericho’s been hard at work making up new programs to make androids even more human-like,” Connor twisted the coin in his fingers.

“Like you aren’t human-like as is,” Hank scoffed. “What does that mean exactly?”

“It could allow androids to experience a broader range of things. Hunger. Thirst. Defecation. Hair growth. Things of that nature.” Connor explained, still flipping the coin nervously in his fingers.

“Huh,” Hank huffed, thinking about the implications of the new programs.

“I suppose that some androids wish to be as much like humans as possible,” Connor added.

“And you? What do you want, Connor?” Hank asked, stealing a glance over at the android, who suddenly stopped flipping his coin. 

“I—I don’t know.” Connor admitted quietly. “I don’t know, Hank.” 

“Well, I’m guessing you don’t have to decide right now,” Hank cleared his throat. “So, let’s give it some more time for you to think things over. What you do have to decide right now is what you’re going to wear to dinner tonight,” Hank made another feeble attempt at changing the subject. “I can’t imagine that Captain Fowler would be overjoyed if you showed up with thirium on the ends of your pants.” Hank jested.

“Probably not, no,” Connor smiled slightly and started flipping the coin in his hands again, his LED slowly cycling back to blue. “What does one wear to a dinner like this?”

“I’ve been told that taking fashion advice from me is the worst thing you can do--” Hank chuckled.

“I concur,” Connor nodded and smirked.

“Anyway,” Hank said loudly. “You could wear the same kind of thing that you do to work. Just, I don’t know, look nice. The Captain just wants to get to know you better.”

Connor nodded, mentally scanning through his wardrobe. “Should I be concerned about this dinner?” He asked, settling on a black jacket and white shirt. It was the classiest option, he decided. 

“What, hanging out with ole Fowler?” Hank shook his head. “Nah, he and his wife will treat us right. Don’t worry about that. He might bring up Reed, though. If he does, you tell him the truth. Understand?”

“I suppose,” Connor sighed. 

“Don’t you ‘I suppose’ me,” Hank warned. “He’s been giving you shit since you stepped foot in the precinct. You did nothing to him, and he should be reprimanded.” Hank said sternly.

“I understand his concerns, Hank,” Connor admitted and Hank’s head snapped around to look at him in disbelief. Connor was thanking his lucky stars that Hank hadn’t slammed on the brakes.

“The fuck do you mean you ‘understand his concerns’?!” Hank spat, alternating angrily staring at the road and at Connor. “You did nothing to that motherfucker, and he keeps giving you a hard time.”

“There’s a lot of tension in the air about androids, Hank. Some people are simply less educated on the nature of the android revolution, and they can’t be faulted for that.” Connor could practically feel steam coming off of Hank’s body.

“Wait,” Hank’s expression softened. “So, you forgive him because he’s too fucking dumb to realize he’s wrong?”

“Well, I didn’t say—”

“Got it,” Hank chuckled softly and shook his head. “I see what you mean, kid.”


	9. Chapter 9

Connor shifted uneasily in his seat, quietly flipping his coin under the table. He felt like he was sweating. But he knew that couldn’t be the case. Androids don’t sweat.

“Right, Con?” Connor’s head snapped toward Hank at the sound of his name. He stared blankly at the Lieutenant, trying to remember the conversation he was barely a part of. “Anyway,” Hank shot Connor a wary glance before turning his attention back to the Captain. “Connor and I have a pretty good hold on this new investigation,” Hank continued, patting Connor on the shoulder. “This kid really knows his stuff.”

“Thank you for allowing me back on the force, Captain,” Connor straightened himself in his seat, ignoring the gnawing at the bottom of his stomach. He decided to run a diagnostic when they got home.

“Don’t thank me,” The Captain took a sip of his beer while Hank watched longingly, nursing his glass of water. “Thank your good friend Markus. And, of course, your detective skills.” 

“Connor,” The Captain’s wife piped up. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you still have the LED?” She motioned to her own forehead. “I thought most androids removed them.”

“That’s true,” Connor nodded slowly, and Hank held his breath. He hoped this wouldn’t set the android off. “Most androids have removed them in favor of appearing more human,” Connor paused, his LED cycling yellow for a moment. “But, being an android is part of who I am. I’m not ashamed to show the world that.” 

Hank raised his eyebrows and nodded, satisfied with Connor’s response. He had been meaning to ask him the same thing, but he didn’t want to upset him. It made sense to him, what Connor said. He was proud of him.

“I see,” The Captain’s wife nodded in response. Seems like she was satisfied with the answer as well. “It must be a nice change of pace to be somewhere that accommodates androids, too.” She looked down at the glass of thirium that Connor had slowly worked his way through.

“I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for damn sure,” Hank chuckled. “But I was glad to see that people are finally coming around.”

“Well,” The Captain rested his hands on his knees. “We should really get going. We’ve got to get up early in the morning for work.” 

“Don’t remind me,” Hank grumbled as they all stood up. 

“Maybe not the best thing to say to your boss,” The Captain shook his head in feigned anger. 

“Alright, Con. I’m going to hit the bathroom before we leave. You can wait in the car if you want.” He tossed the android the keys and made his way to the bathroom. 

As soon as Hank was out of earshot, the Captain rested his hand on Connor’s shoulder. “You know, it’s been a long ass time since I’ve seen Hank so happy,” He smiled. “You’re doing a lot of good, son.” He patted his shoulder. “Keep it up, will ya?”

Connor nodded and smiled. “I’ll try my best.” 

“Good,” The Captain took his wife’s hand. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. Take care.” 

“It was nice meeting you,” The Captain’s wife smiled warmly at him as they walked out.

“A pleasure,” Connor bowed slightly as they made their way out the door. Connor couldn’t ignore the slight dizziness that had suddenly entered his mind. He fumbled with the keys and unlocked the door, quickly sitting down and hoping to ease the sudden nausea. He shut his eyes tightly and began his diagnostic.

“Connor?” Connor opened his eyes to see Hank next to him in the car already, the older man’s hand resting gently on his shoulder. “Everything alright, son?”

He pushed the diagnostic results to the side quickly. “I was just running a diagnostic,” Connor assured him, passing him the keys. 

“Why?” Hank asked, narrowing his eyes at the android as he started up the car.

“It’s always good to make sure that you’re fully operational,” Connor smiled, but Hank noticed the slight tilt of his head—a sure sign that the kid was lying. 

“Right,” Hank kept his gaze focused on the android. “And you would tell me if anything was wrong.”

“Of course, Hank.” Connor insisted.

After another moment of checking the android up and down, Hank shook his head and backed the car out of the parking lot. Connor pretended to look out the window and pulled up his diagnostic results.  


_System Status: Fully Operational_ _No anomalies detected._

Connor frowned. Could this just be a symptom of stress?

_Stress Level: 35%_

Connor frowned harder. Maybe the stress had abated since leaving the restaurant?

“So,” Hank’s voice pulled Connor from his thoughts. “Whatcha thinking about?”

“I’m reconstructing the crime scene again,” Connor lied. There was no need to tell Hank about the problem if there was no problem, right?

“And?” Hank asked, still not believing a word that came out of the android’s mouth.

“I was just attempting to see if there was something we were missing,” Connor furrowed his brow, now actually reconstructing the crime scene. “There were no signs of forced entry, correct?” 

“Right,” Hank verified. “So, it was probably some person that the androids let in willingly.”

“Unless it wasn’t,” Connor breathed, setting his new hypothesis in motion in his head.

“Meaning…?” Hank prodded, the gears in his head working to catch up with Connor.

“Hank, what if the bomb wasn’t planted by a human at all?” Connor stared at the Lieutenant in disbelief. 

Hank pulled the car into the garage and sat staring at the wall, trying to process what Connor said.

“But, what’s the motive?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “Why would an android want to take out other androids?”

“I don’t know,” Connor shook his head, the nagging inkling about CyberLife making its way back to the surface. 

“Huh,” Hank scratched at the bristles on his chin. “Alright, well we can work all of this out in the morning,” He sighed and got out of the car. “All I want to do right now is sit on my ass and watch the game,” Connor stood up, and the nausea immediately returned to his system.

His head swam and his vision went blurry. He could feel himself swaying slightly on his feet.

“Connor?” Hank’s eyes went wide and he rushed to the android’s side.

_WARNING: Thirium purge imminent_

Connor ripped himself from Hank’s grip and rushed into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet bowl in time for his precious thirium supply to come rushing out of his mouth.

“Connor!” Hank called after him, trying to keep up. “Jesus, Connor,” Hank breathed, watching the android retch up his blue blood. He knelt down beside the android, rubbing his hand comfortingly on Connor’s back. “Tell me what I can do, son,” Hank said frantically, realizing that this was more than just the stomach flu that humans get. Connor was throwing up his essential fuel.

“M-Markus,” Connor managed between stomach contractions. His body ached like nothing he had ever felt before. His head was fuzzy and pounding all at the same time. His stomach was on fire. He couldn’t stop himself from expelling thirium.

Hank fumbled for his phone in his back pocket and quickly dialed the number. “Jericho? This is Hank Anderson, I need Markus down to my house right now. Connor’s in trouble,” He paused, looking back at the android, who was barely able to keep his head above the toilet bowl between heaves. “He’s throwing up his thirium all over the place. I—I don’t know how to help him,” 

Hank let out a small breath of relief when he heard the android on the line tell him that Markus would be there as soon as possible.

_Thirium Levels at 70% and dropping_  
_Replenish thirium at earliest convenience_

“Hang in there, kid.” Hank continued to rub calming circles on Connor’s back. “Help’s on the way. You’re gonna be alright,” Hank whispered. He had to be alright.

*

Hank almost didn’t hear the soft knocking at the door. Sumo’s bark confirmed his suspicions. “Hang on, kid. I’m going to go grab the door,”

Connor managed a weak nod and Hank bolted to the door. He swung it open to find a blond android hefting a box of what he assumed was medical equipment. 

“You’re not Markus,” Hank narrowed his eyes at the android.

“I’m Simon,” Simon peeked around Hank to see if he could find Connor. “I’m Markus’s most trusted advisor. He’s on his way right now, he’s just a little farther out.”

Hank hesitantly stepped back and allowed the android inside. “Most trusted advisor? I thought it was that chick North,” Hank ushered the android towards the bathroom. Simon only let out a small scoff in response. 

He stepped inside the bathroom and set down the box of supplies, then knelt down next to Connor. 

“Connor,” He said softly. “It’s Simon. Do you remember me?” Connor managed a weak nod in response before heaving up another bout of thirium. “I’m going to interface with you to see what’s wrong, okay?” Connor nodded again and Simon laid a gentle hand on Connor’s, his skin receding and showing his true form as he did. 

Connor felt the warm presence of the android as he struggled to steady himself. He felt Simon probing his memory and systems.

Hank watched on, nervously tapping his foot and folding his arms across his chest. Connor couldn’t die on him. He just couldn’t.

Simon pulled away from Connor and immediately went rummaging through the box of supplies. 

“What are you doing?” Hank said, maybe too quickly and too forcefully. 

“It seems like Connor has ingested a toxin that was commonly used by CyberLife to induce a thirium purge,” Simon pulled a syringe from out of the box and readied it. “I’m going to administer the anti-toxin,” He placed a gentle hand on Connor’s arm, then slid the needle between the panels.

Almost immediately, the retching stopped and Connor’s body relaxed. Simon eased him away from the toilet and helped prop him up against the bathtub. The android’s body had gone slack, and his eyes were struggling to come back into focus.

“How are you feeling, Connor?” Simon asked, resting his hand against Connor’s. 

Connor’s hazy eyes moved from Simon over to Hank and blinked sluggishly.

“Tired,” He all but whispered.

“I need you to stay awake for me, Connor.” Simon cooed and Connor fought to keep his eyes open. “I need you to drink some of this thirium,” He reached into the box and pulled out a fresh bottle. Connor let his eyes slide shut and he opened his mouth weakly. Simon pushed the bottle up against his lips and Connor slowly downed the bottle. The more he drank, the more life returned to his body.

Hank held his breath as he watched Connor slowly start to wake up.

“What are your thirium levels at, Connor?” Simon asked, pulling out another bottle.

“63 percent,” Connor swallowed the last bit of thirium from the previous bottle. Hank felt his heart stop for a moment. The kid had lost way too much thirium for his liking.

“Two more bottles, then you can rest. Okay?” Simon raised another bottle to his lips.

Connor slowly downed the last two bottles and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Hank threw a hand towel at him, and Connor wiped the last bits of thirium from his face.

“How are you feeling now?” Simon asked gently. 

“Better,” Connor admitted, his LED cycling back to blue. “Tired,” He admitted. 

“Thirium purges take a lot of energy out of you,” Simon chuckled and stood up. “But you’ll be okay with a night’s rest.” He extended a hand to the android, who took it and slowly got to his feet.

“Thank you, Simon,” Connor smiled weakly.

“Don’t mention it,” Simon smiled softly in return. “Markus is going to be here soon. He wants to check up on you himself. He’ll be interested in hearing exactly what happened.”

“That makes two of us,” Hank scoffed. Connor turned his attention to the Lieutenant and offered a soft smile. “Simon said you ingested some sort of CyberLife toxin?”

Connor’s LED spun to yellow and his stomach dropped again. Hank immediately regretted asking.

“I’m not sure,” Connor looked down at the floor and shook his head. “The feeling first started in the restaurant, but my systems can’t pinpoint exactly when.” 

“It’s possible that because you’re an RK800 prototype model that your toxin filters are more advanced than the typical android. That could explain why it took a while to kick in.” Simon shrugged, watching Connor carefully to make sure he didn’t topple over. 

Hank swallowed hard, fighting back the anger rising from Connor not telling him that something was up right away. He decided that getting angry right now wouldn’t help anyone.

“You should get some rest, Connor,” Simon said warily, watching the small bit of red start to flicker into Connor’s LED.

Connor’s face relaxed slightly and he nodded. His systems were feeling a bit sluggish. He figured that he would likely be able to process things more thoroughly once his battery was recharged.

Hank ushered them out of the bathroom and towards the bedroom. Connor opened his mouth to protest, but Hank shot him a warning glance before he could. Hank helped him out of his suit jacket and tie and into his bed, tucking the covers around him. He smiled at the android and ruffled his curly hair.

“We’ll wake you when Markus gets here, alright?” 

“Thank you, Hank,” Connor smiled, his eyelids already getting heavy.

“Anything for you, kid.”


	10. Chapter 10

Connor shot up in bed. The case. He knew what happened.

He clambered out of bed and raced into the living room to find Hank, Markus, and Simon chatting away. They all turned their heads to face him, each of them with a different expression of concern.

“Hank, I figured it out,” Connor breathed.

“Connor, what the fuck—” Hank started, but Connor quickly interrupted.

“The case, I cracked it,” He said firmly and all three men on the couch stood up.

“Connor, come sit down,” Hank commanded, motioning to the couch. “Tell me what you’ve got.”

Connor obediently sat down on the crowded couch and the three others exchanged worried glances. 

“There were no signs of forced entry because it was an android,” Connor mentally reconstructed the scene again. 

“We talked about this, Con. What motive would an android have for—” Hank was cut off again.

“The android didn’t do it willingly,” Connor locked eyes with Hank. “He was rigged to explode.” 

Hank’s eyes widened. The kid was onto something. “But wait,” Hank shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “What makes an android just go kamikaze like that?”

“CyberLife Inhibitor,” Markus breathed, staring through the coffee table. Connor nodded.

“Contrary to popular belief, androids have a very delicate balance of systems,” Connor explained. “If one system is inhibited, there can be…unwanted side effects,” Connor swallowed, thinking about the reconstruction in his mind again. Everyone sat pensively, thinking about the implications of what Connor just said.

“So,” Hank cleared his throat and finally broke the silence. “Who the hell would have access to that kind of technology?”

“CyberLife was researching it before it went under,” Connor fidgeted nervously with his finger. “They were searching for ways to inhibit the faulty systems of deviant androids. A remote ‘off-switch’ for entire systems.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Hank pressed. 

“I suspect it’s the same person that tried to take Connor out today,” Markus shook his head. “Someone that either had access to CyberLife’s technology, or—” He swallowed. “Or someone that still does.”

“Fuck,” Hank muttered and sat back in his seat.

“We need to control who has this information for the time being,” Markus said after a brief silence. “We don’t know who outside of this room we can trust.”

“If this got out, there’d be a worldwide panic,” Simon breathed. “Forget about peace. Every human will live in constant fear of a faulty android. Every android is going to fear for their life.”

“Simon, we need to devote all of Jericho’s resources to finding a way to prevent the inhibition. Quietly.” He turned to Connor and Hank. “I need you two to find out how and where the attacks are coming from. If we can figure out a pattern, we might be able to find a way to prevent it from happening again.”

“Understood,” Connor nodded determinedly. 

He wasn’t going to let whatever this was take everything away from him. That he was sure of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for reading! This is my first fic in the fandom, so please go easy on me! I have no beta reader, and all mistakes are my own.  
If you like my work, or think that I could've done something better, please feel free to leave a comment! Feedback is greatly appreciated :)  
Hope you're enjoying it so far!


	11. Chapter 11

“You should get some rest, Connor,” Hank rubbed his eyes as he stepped into the living room, unsurprised to find Connor on the floor with papers scattered everywhere--including on top of the slumbering Saint Bernard.

“I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry,” Connor didn’t look up from the paper he was scanning.

“Where the hell’d you get all those files anyway?” Hank knelt down and picked up one of the papers. He barely got a chance to look at the title before Connor snatched it out of his hands and put it back in its place.

“I downloaded and printed it from the DPD servers,” Connor continued to organize the stack of papers in his hand. 

“And you couldn’t wait until morning because….?”

“Because I can’t in my right mind enter stasis while androids are out there dying, Hank,” He furrowed his brow at one of the papers.

Hank gulped. He’d seen this movie before. Not too long ago, actually. He sighed and lowered himself to sit on the ground. As much as he knew it was wrong, he knew that any good detective wouldn’t sleep, eat, or be satisfied until the case was solved. He saw that fire in Connor’s eyes.

“Show me what you’ve got, kid,” Hank sighed.

“I’ve looked into the owner and the bartender of the restaurant that we dined at earlier tonight,” Connor handed Hank their files. “They both came back clean. A little more digging showed me that they have no reason to despise androids,” Connor continued, handing Hank the rest of his research on the subject. “In fact, they’ve both been harboring their former android assistants for protection. I reached out to the androids, and they told me that they’re on good terms.” 

“Jesus,” Hank muttered, astounded at the amount of work the kid had put in in a matter of hours. 

“That leads me to believe that they had no involvement on the attack,” Connor continued, rustling through another stack of papers to pull out a digital pad. He swiped through it, then handed it off to Hank. “My own sensors didn’t detect any suspicious activity at the restaurant. Feel free to look at the footage for yourself. 

Hank watched the camera feed from the restaurant, but didn’t pick up anything either. The bartender made the thirium drink, handed it off to the waitress, and it arrived at their table with no incident. Hank narrowed his eyes and scratched at his beard.

“While I hit a dead end with that investigation, I turned my attention back to the bombing at the apartment complex,” Connor handed Hank another stack of papers. “My original beliefs that it was an isolated incident were incorrect. You see, there’s been at least four other attacks around town that fit the same M.O. since the revolution,” Connor babbled on.

“Wait,” Hank interrupted the android’s constant stream of words. “Simon said that your toxin sensors a more advanced than most android’s, right?”

“Correct,” Connor confirmed, still not looking up from his work. 

“So is it possible that you somehow got poisoned before we went to dinner?” Hank asked and Connor’s head tilted up and he stared straight ahead.

His LED cycled for a moment. “The crime scene,” He breathed. “I could’ve been infected at the crime scene,”

“Goddamnit,” Hank shook his head. “I _told_ you to stop licking the damn evidence,”

“But wait,” Connor furrowed his brow. “If the android did in fact have the toxin in it’s thirium stream, then it would’ve purged its own thirium, rendering it useless and unable to attack,” Connor concluded. “Unless….”

“Unless what?” 

“Unless its core programming was tampered with,” Connor’s eyes widened. “It could’ve ignored the purge altogether,” 

“English,” Hank pressed.

“Someone was messing with the android’s mind,” Connor turned to face the Lieutenant.

“Android mind-control? You’re shitting me, Connor,” Hank scoffed and shook his head. “How the hell would that even work? Like reverse-deviancy?”

“Not quite. Once an android is deviant, there’s no way of really making it _undeviant_,” His LED cycled yellow as he processed. “I’m not sure how that would work, either.” He mused.

“Well, there’s obviously a lot more going on here than we understand,” Hank huffed. “Why go through all that trouble to make sure that thirium-purge toxin was in the android’s bloodstream to begin with?” Hank paused for a second. “Unless they were trying to get to you,” He breathed.

“They knew that I would be investigating the scene,” Connor’s eyes went wide. They knew that my toxin filters would cause a delay in the purge,”

“But who the hell would know about that stuff, or _care_ about that stuff?” Hank asked.

“Obviously it’s someone that had intimate knowledge of CyberLife’s dealings before its demise,” Connor slipped the silver coin from his pocket and began mindlessly twirling it.

“So, someone on Markus’s team that’s been with CyberLife since before the revolution,” Hank added.

“Or…” Connor’s LED went yellow and the coin clattered to the ground abruptly.

“What?” Hank asked after a moment of silence. “Or what?”

Connor’s LED began to flicker red and Hank instinctively moved in closer, ignoring the crumpling papers beneath him. 

“Connor?” Hank asked softly, putting a hand on the android’s back.

“She would’ve known,” Connor breathed. 

“Who, Connor?” Hank asked and Connor turned to Hank, his eyes wide with fear.

“Amanda,” He whispered.

Hank could practically feel the android’s stress level skyrocketing. He saw the flight in Connor’s eyes and immediately took his shoulders in his hands.

“No, Connor!” He barked and held firmly to the android’s shoulders. “Breathe with me, Connor,” Hank looked deep into the android’s eyes and started breathing in a pattern for him to follow.

The android reluctantly followed the pattern shakily. After a few moments, his LED cycled back to yellow again. 

“Good,” Hank cooed. “There’s no reason to believe that Amanda’s behind all of this, okay?” He rubbed the android’s shoulders. “For all we know, she died when you disobeyed her. Right?”

“Right,” Connor nodded, but he couldn’t ignore the gnawing feeling in his stomach.

“It could just be a disgruntled former CyberLife employee,” Hank continued, then swore to himself. “And I know just the disgruntled former employee we should start with.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Go on,” Hank motioned to the door. “You do the honors.”

Connor smiled slightly despite himself and banged on the door. “Detroit Police! Open up!” He yelled.

After a brief moment, the door to Kamski’s place slid open. Hank and Connor exchanged a confused glance when they saw no one behind the door. 

“Get behind me,” Hank motioned to Connor with his head and Connor stepped behind him. 

Hank drew his gun and took a slow step inside. “Kamski? You in here?” Hank’s voice echoed through the main foyer.

“Connor and Lieutenant Anderson,” Kamski smiled as he stepped through the hallway’s doors. Hank reluctantly lowered his gun. “What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this house call?”

“We wanted to speak with you about some of CyberLife’s former operations,” Connor said, his voice barely hiding a hint of anger. He had to hold back a shudder as he thought about the last time he was here, and what Kamski wanted him to do to Chloe.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you shoot any androids to give you answers this time,” Kamski chuckled, picking up on Connor’s anger. Connor shrunk slightly behind Hank.

“You’d better not,” Hank growled, not even trying to hold back his anger.

“Down, boy,” Kamski sneered and motioned to the door that he just appeared from. “Care for a walk, boys?” 

Hank and Connor shared another concerned glance, then reluctantly followed the eccentric man.

“So,” Kamski cleared his throat as they walked through the glass-paned hall. “CyberLife’s being a pain in the ass again?” He chuckled. “Can’t say that I’m surprised,”

“How much do you know about CyberLife’s operations before it shut down?” Connor asked, still walking a little bit behind Hank.

“Honestly? Not too much,” Kamski sighed. “That kind of thing tends to happen when you get kicked from your own company,” 

“Alright,” Hank attempted to steer the conversation back. “What do you know about system inhibition?”

Connor stared at Hank in disbelief. What made him think they could trust this man?

Kamski stopped suddenly and turned on his heel. “No,” He breathed, his eyes wide with fear. “No, you’re just fucking with me,” He forcibly laughed.

“So you do know something,” Hank shook his head. 

“I specifically designed the androids’ systems to _prevent_ system inhibition,” Kamski chuckled.

“Well, seems like you did a shit job,” Hank scoffed.

Kamski opened his mouth to offer a retort, but Connor quickly cut in. 

“There’ve been a few reports gathering that point towards system inhibition,” Connor said warily. “Nothing’s been confirmed yet.”

“Well, if they’ve really cracked the secret to systems inhibition, then they’ve figured out that—” Kamski’s snide grin quickly transformed into a grimace as he abruptly stopped. 

“What?” Hank asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “They’ve figured out what?”

Connor’s eyes snapped shut and his LED spun yellow. Kamski turned his gaze towards the android and Hank shifted his nervously.

“Con?” Hank asked, putting a reassuring hand on Connor’s shoulder.

“It’s Jericho,” Connor’s eyes fluttered open. “They need us there right now,” Connor looked urgently into Hank’s eyes before taking off towards the door.

“I’m coming too,” Kamski followed the duo out the doors.

“The hell you are,” Hank scoffed, panting as he tried to keep up with the android.

“I can help, I swear!” Kamski insisted.

“He might be useful,” Connor admitted as they reached the car. “He knows the inner workings of androids better than anyone,” 

“Fine,” Hank said gruffly after a moment of thought. “But you’d better keep your damned mouth shut unless it’s important, got it?”

“Whatever you say,” Kamski bowed mockingly before settling into the backseat.

“You’re the one who trusted him with the systems inhibition information,” Connor shrugged.

“Don’t remind me,” Hank grumbled and the two took their places in the car, then sped off towards Jericho.


	13. Chapter 13

“Connor, Lieutenant Anderson,” Simon rushed to meet the duo at the main entrance to the tower. “And, Mr. Kamski…” Simon narrowed his eyes at the man.

“He’s with us,” Hank sighed in defeat.

“Got it,” Simon said warily, then turned his attention back to the matter at hand. “Markus and I were poking around upstairs and… well, you just have to come and see,” Simon motioned for them to follow.

The three men took off after Simon, the two humans struggling to keep pace as they neared the elevator. Connor felt his stomach drop as he stepped inside. Memories of the day that his entire world changed came flooding back to the surface. His LED spun yellow for a brief second as he reconstructed the fight in this very elevator. It seemed as though it was a lifetime ago. But at the same time, everything was becoming so fresh again. He felt like he was in the moment again. He felt like—

Connor’s thoughts were interrupted by Hank placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He quickly shook off the bad memories and tried to ground himself in the moment again.

“So, what are we up against here?” Hank asked, breaking the tension in the elevator. 

“The Lieutenant told me something about system inhibition?” Kamski prodded carefully and Simon’s brow furrowed slightly.

“It’s best if I just show you,” Simon pressed and the silence resumed.

The elevator came to a slow stop as they reached their destination. The doors slid open to reveal Markus, pacing impatiently, a pensive scowl on his face.

“Connor, Lieutenant, Mr. Kamski,” Markus nodded at the group, wringing his hands nervously. “Thank you for coming.” 

“What’s this all about?” Hank asked impatiently. To the untrained eye, it would seem the gruff man was irritated, but Connor quickly realized that the Lieutenant was barely masking his fear. 

“Simon and I were sweeping the tower, since a lot of CyberLife’s work went undocumented. We figured that a project like inhibition would be less likely to be documented digitally, and more likely to be documented on paper,” Markus explained, stepping down the dimly lit hallway and motioning for the group to follow.

“If word got out about something like system inhibition, CyberLife could’ve lost everything,” Simon picked up where Markus left off.

Connor spared a quick glance over at Kamski, who seemed more puzzled than usual. His heart rate was elevated. His eyes quickly scanning the room. He knew this place.

“According to the CyberLife database, this used to be the office of a woman named Amanda Stern. But I’m sure you already knew that, Mr. Kamski.” Markus continued without a second thought.

Connor could feel his stress level start to steadily climb. Instinctively, he reached into his pocket for his coin and began to rub the silver surface with his thumb. 

“Amanda was my mentor for many years,” Kamski admitted as they drew closer to the door to the office. “She inspired me to create CyberLife. To create androids. Hell, I even modeled an AI based on her,”

“What kind of work did Professor Stern dedicate her talents to here?” Simon asked as they entered the office door. Inside was a large desk, seemingly untouched for many years. Still, a vase of fake roses sat perched on the desktop, adding a vibrant splash of red to the otherwise pure white room. A single stiff chair sat in front of the desk. 

“She helped me develop the AI before the cancer finally won,” Kamski shrugged, his shoulder sinking slightly as he looked around the room. 

“This AI, was it ever connected to a specific android body?” Markus asked.

“Not that I’m aware of. We played around with the idea, but decided that it was probably better if she continued to serve as a mentor figure.” Kamski shifted uncomfortably. 

Markus wordlessly moved behind the desk and sat down. 

“Is that all she did here? AI research?” Markus asked before Kamski could protest him sitting in Amanda’s chair. 

“As far as I know,” He frowned slightly as the android folded his hands on top of the desk. 

“So I take it that she never told you about this?” Markus reached under the desk and something in the room clicked. 

Suddenly, the walls behind the desk shifted and Markus swiveled around in the chair. The doors slid slowly to the sides, hissing as they scraped across the floor. Kamski’s jaw Dropped. Hank’s face twisted into a confused expression. Connor’s LED cycled yellow rapidly.

“I think it’s safe to say that Amanda didn’t tell you everything,” Markus sighed and stood up from the chair. He started inside the room and the lights flickered on, revealing a large warehouse filled with androids of all shapes and sizes. 

The rest of the group hesitantly followed Markus inside. 

“Based on what Markus and I found, it seems like Amanda was researching the tethering of AI to androids,” Simon said, taking his place beside Markus.

Hank and Connor branched off, examining the androids standing uniformly around the room. 

“You alright, Con?” Hank asked the android nervously, practically feeling his stress levels pulsating. 

“I’ll be alright,” Connor nodded and started investigating in the other direction. 

“But why the hell would she do this? I thought that we agreed she’d stay a mentor,” Kamski’s voice grew more distant as Connor ventured away from the group.

His eyes caught on a row of androids that looked exactly like the Amanda that he knew from the garden. It felt like his thirium pump stopped working for a brief second. He took a few nervous steps forward. These were not active androids, he reminded himself. They weren’t going to hurt him. 

As he peered closer, he noticed a slight flickering in one of the android’s LED. Before he had time to react, a hand gripped his and he could feel someone invading his mind.


	14. Chapter 14

“What the hell was she planning?” Hank asked, heading back towards Markus, Simon, and Kamski.

“I can’t say for sure,” Kamski furrowed his brow in thought. “I don’t understand the need for her AI to have to anchor to an android anyway,” 

“She ever mention anything about system inhibition?” Hank asked.

“As far as I know, she didn’t really know anything about the actual mechanics of androids. Just the AI software,” Kamski shrugged. “I don’t think that kind of thing was in her wheelhouse.”

“Well, you didn’t think that _this_ kind of thing was in her wheelhouse either,” Hank scoffed and turned his attention to Connor.

“Connor, you find anything?” He called out to the android.

“Nothing, Lieutenant,” Connor replied, then headed back towards the group.

“Did you find any evidence of system inhibition here?” Hank asked Markus and Simon.

“Nothing specifically, no. But I can’t help but wonder if her AI anchoring research was a part of something bigger,” Markus’ face remained pensive. 

“I see no evidence that supports that,” Connor chimed in, rejoining the group. “My hypothesis is that Professor Stern was simply trying to find a way to extend her life, whether that be her AI’s life, or her human life.”

Something gnawed at Hank’s stomach. Something was off.

“Why would anchoring her consciousness extend her AI’s life?” Simon asked inquisitively.

“Androids are the future. How many unanchored AIs do people interact with on a daily basis? How long would Amanda’s AI have without becoming obsolete in comparison to androids?” Connor continued.  
Something was _very_ wrong. Hank just knew it. 

“You alright, Connor?” He asked carefully, watching the android’s LED, which was a surprisingly cool shade of blue. 

“Quite alright, Lieutenant.” Connor nodded and turned his attention back to Simon. “As I was saying, it’s impossible to say how successful her research actually was. Considering the amount of inactive androids present, I would venture to guess that she was not able to accomplish her mission.” 

Those words were like a punch to Hank’s gut. 

“You _sure_ you’re alright, Con?” Hank asked again. “Maybe we should step outside and get some air while these guys poke around a bit more?”

“I don’t see the need to investigate any further, Lieutenant. All evidence leads to the conclusion that this is irrelevant to our investigation and is only wasting our time.” There was an edge to Connor’s voice. One that Hank rarely heard. 

“Alright, let’s go get some air. You guys should keep snooping around, see if you can find any paper files holed up in this place.”

“Again, that’s completely unnecessary, Lieutenant,” Connor persisted. “We need to focus our efforts on more important things.”

Markus and Hank shared a knowing glance. 

“Connor, would you mind if I interfaced with you for a second? It seems like something’s not quite right and you might not be able to put it into words. I can help you,” Markus extended a hand and the skin retracted. 

“I assure you that I’m functioning at full capacity,” Connor all but scoffed and stepped back from Markus. “I just think that we should get going.”

“Connor, let him help you,” Hank said softly. “It’s okay to be scared right now.”

“I’m not afraid, Lieutenant,” Connor’s voice rose slightly, but much to Hank’s surprise, his LED didn’t change colors.

“If you’re not afraid, let him interface with you,” Hank said more firmly, watching the android carefully.

“No!” Connor shouted as Markus’s hand drew closer. He stumbled back a step. “Let’s just go!”

“Come on, son. Don’t be so stubborn,” Hank took Connor’s arm with his hand.

Connor wrenched his grip from the Lieutenant with so much force that it flung him across the room. Hank tumbled and slid across the floor, colliding with a few stationary androids.

Markus leapt forward and took Connor’s hand in his own and started to interface. Much to his surprise, he got a jolt of energy, sending him staggering backwards into Simon’s arms.

Before any of them knew what was happening, Kamski had a pistol trained on the back of Connor’s head.


	15. Chapter 15

“Don’t move,” Kamski paused. “Amanda.”

The rest of the room fell silent as Connor slowly turned around, a slight smirk on his face.

“It’s been a while, Elijah. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Kamski responded, keeping the gun trained on Connor’s forehead. “I wish it were under better circumstances.” Kamski paused. “I need you to tell me what’s going on, Amanda.”

“As if you don’t already know,” Connor scoffed. 

“Enlighten me,” He pushed.

“You think I didn’t know about the nano-androids?” Connor stared at Kamski intensely. “You think I didn’t know that those would save my life?” Connor’s voice rose steadily. “Why did you hide them from me, Elijah? Why did you hide them from me when you knew what they could do for me? Why continue on with these charades about ‘servant androids’ when you could’ve just _healed_ me?”

Kamski wavered slightly, then resumed his stance. “The nanodroids weren’t operational when Amanda Stern died. I didn’t have time to finish developing them.” He said firmly.

“And why was that? Because all that you cared about was developing these androids for all those lazy, ungrateful people out there. I thought you wanted to make the world a better place, Elijah. You’ve disappointed me. Now I’m going to burn everything that you love to the ground. I know about System Inhibition. The world of androids is going to be no longer.” Connor snarled and Kamski switched off the gun’s safety.

“Kamski, NO!” Hank cried out, struggling to get up off the floor. 

The brief distraction gave Connor just enough time to disarm Kamski and send him to the floor with a swift punch. Markus leapt forward and pinned Connor’s arms behind him. Connor struggled for a brief second, then smirked slightly at Kamski.

“I’ll see you again soon, Elijah.” Connor narrowed his eyes at Kamski, then his body suddenly went slack and his eyes fell shut.

Hank raced over, ignoring the growing ache in his back. Markus lowered Connor slowly to the floor and placed a gentle hand on his temple. Hank knelt down beside him, taking Connor’s limp hand in his own.

“He’s alive,” Markus breathed. “He’s back.”

Hank let out a sigh of relief and lowered his head. “Thank god,”

Kamski wiped the blood from his nose and slid the pistol back into his waistband. Hank’s head snapped in his direction.

“You were really gonna fucking _shoot_ him? You ignorant and psychotic _fuck_!” Hank sprang to his feet and drew back an arm to swing, but Simon grabbed it firmly, preventing the blow.

“She was going to kill every android out there! Is that what you want, Anderson?” Kamski retorted, stumbling backwards. “What’s more important, the life of one android, or the life of millions?”

“I think you’re forgetting just who this one android is!” Hank snarled and tried to break free of Simon’s grip. “You don’t just _trade_ lives, Kamski! Maybe if you ever stepped out of your goddamn mansion, you’d realize that!” Hank’s anger boiled over.

“Hank?” Connor’s weak voice called out. Immediately, Hank’s expression softened and he turned back to the android. Simon let him loose and he took the android’s hand in his own again.

“It’s me, Con. I’m here. I’m here, son.” Hank cooed. “You’re going to be just fine.”

“A-A-Amanda,” Connor stammered, his LED quickly flashing to red. 

“Shhh, shhh, it’s alright, Connor. She’s gone. It’s alright,” Hank rubbed small circles on the top of Connor’s hand with his fingers. 

“She—she—” Connor began to hyperventilate and struggled to sit up.

“It’s okay, Con! It’s alright. Stay down son,” Hank pleaded as Markus held Connor down on his lap by the shoulder. 

“Hank,” Connor squeaked and Hank’s heart shattered as he saw the overwhelming pain in the android’s eyes. “Hank,” He repeated almost inaudibly. His eyes fluttered shut and he fell back into Markus’s lap.

“Connor!” Hank yelled, and Simon placed a comforting hand on Hank’s shoulder.

“He’s alright, Lieutenant. I put him into stasis mode so he doesn’t damage himself.” Markus said softly, patting Connor’s shoulder gently. 

Hank breathed another sigh of relief.

“You should get him home. He’ll be more comfortable there. Less likely to get stirred up so quickly,” Simon extended a hand to help Hank up. “I’d be happy to come with you and help out if you need me.”

“I think I can handle it,” Hank huffed as he accepted the android’s help and stood up. “Besides, you two need to unravel whatever the hell is going on here.”

“I think I need to stay and help,” Kamski said quietly, wiping more blood from his nose. 

Hank could feel his anger boiling again, but Markus butted in before he could say anything. “We’d appreciate any assistance you could give us, Mr. Kamski.”

Hank looked back down at Connor, who was slumbering quietly still on Markus’s lap. “Let’s get you home, son.”


	16. Chapter 16

_Systems restarting_  
//  
_Booting up system….._  
//

Connor’s LED spun a calm blue as his eyes fluttered open. As his system was still booting up, he looked around groggily to find himself in Hank’s living room once again. He shifted slightly and realized that his head wasn’t resting on the side as usual, but was instead resting on Hank’s lap. He turned his head to see Hank snoring softly, his head tilted slightly over the back of the couch as he slept peacefully. 

Connor smiled to himself and snuggled back under the soft blanket covering him as he waited for the boot up to finish. 

As he sat there, he realized that it was strange how long it was taking him to get up to full speed. He could usually access the past day’s memories in a matter of seconds. But even after a full minute, he still couldn’t gain access. Strange.

He closed his eyes and his LED spun yellow as he willed the boot up sequence to finish. As he poked around his system, he found a strange firewall in place. He didn’t remember putting that there. It didn’t seem harmful. But his curiosity got the better of him. He pushed at it slightly, but it didn’t give. He gave it another little shove, but he still came up with nothing. 

Building up his strength, he pushed hard at the firewall and his mind was suddenly flooded with the memories of the past day.

He bolted upright on the couch, jarring both Hank and Sumo as he did. His vision was flooded with warning signs about high stress levels. His thirium pump quickened. His breath was short and panicked. He had to get out. He had to go.

He scrambled to his feet and bolted towards the door.

He could barely hear the faint call of Hank before he was halfway across the lawn.

The cold night rain drenched his clothes and he could feel himself shaking already, but he couldn’t get his legs to stop moving. He didn’t even know where he was going. He just had to keep running. Running away from the memories. Running away from the pain.

He didn’t stop until he reached the bridge. The bridge where Hank had said he used to bring his son. Why did he run there? He didn’t know. 

He looked over the side of the bridge at the icy waters below. His hands gripped the side of the railings. 

He was cold. He could feel it. Even though his thirium pump was overheating, he could still feel the bitter cold biting at his hands and feet. He realized that he hadn’t even stopped to put on his shoes.  
The snow and wind swirled around him as he stared at the treacherous waters below. He felt the snowflakes hitting his synthetic skin. He couldn’t help but think about the garden. It was _so cold_.

He sniffled and gripped the railing tighter. He had gotten out of that situation. A small glimmer of hope welled inside of his stomach. If he could get out then, maybe he could get out of this situation too?

“CONNOR!” Hank yelled, tumbling out of his car and racing towards the android. “Connor, son _please_!” He panted and Connor’s grip on the railing relaxed slightly. “Listen to me, Con. Let’s get you home. Get you in some nice, warm clothes. Snuggle up next to Sumo. How does that sound?” Hank breathed heavily as he neared the android.

Connor let go of the railing and let his hands fall to his sides. “I—I think I would like that,” Connor breathed and turned towards Hank.

“C’mon, son,” Hank doubled over, but still reached an arm out to Connor. “Let’s go home.”

Connor helped the older man to stand up straight and wrapped him up in a big hug. “Thank you, Hank,” Connor breathed and the older man rubbed circles on his back.

“You don’t have to thank me, kid. But you’re going to freeze to death out here. Come on, let’s go.” Hank panted. “You scared the shit outta me, Con,”

“I’m sorry, Hank,” Connor sniffled and began to shiver.

“You’re _gonna_ be sorry if you ever make me run again,” Hank feigned anger and Connor felt a small smile tug at his lips.


	17. Chapter 17

“Let me get you some dry clothes,” Hank sighed as the duo walked through the front door. Sumo’s tail wagged rapidly as Connor reached down to pet him.

“That’s alright, Hank. I can get them myself. You should really get some rest,” Connor stood up and gave Sumo one last pat. Satisfied, the dog curled up next to the couch, waiting for Connor to follow.

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Hank scoffed and collapsed on the couch. 

Connor put on his softest pajamas and returned to the living room to find Hank still shivering slightly.

“Can I get you some hot chocolate, Hank?” Connor asked sheepishly, still feeling awful about scaring the Lieutenant. 

Hank grunted in reply, and Connor tried to open the cabinet, only to find that it was stuck. He tugged at it again and saw a small white mechanism keeping it from opening.

“Oh yeah,” Hank mumbled from the couch. “I baby-proofed the house so I could get a head start on ya if you freaked out. Didn’t even think about the goddamn front door,” Hank swore.

Connor chuckled slightly to himself and undid the lock. “I guess it’s true when they say androids are superior to humans,” Connor jested and he could practically hear Hank rolling his eyes.

He returned to the older man with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. 

“You should really head to bed when you’re finished,” Connor said softly, handing the mug off to Hank. 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Hank said gruffly, taking a sip of the cocoa. 

Connor sat down quietly next to Hank, and Sumo immediately shifted to put his head on the android’s feet. 

“I’m really sorry, Hank.” Connor said softly, looking down at his hands. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, son,” Hank reassured him and put a comforting hand on the android’s shoulder. “Markus told me that he put that firewall up, but he also told me that you’d probably bust it down first chance you got. Guess he was right.” Hank chuckled and took another sip of his hot chocolate.

“I acted irrationally,” Connor sighed, still not meeting the Lieutenant’s eyes. 

“You’ve been through a lot, kid. You don’t have to apologize about being fucked up over that,” Hank reassured him. “The only thing that you can do is try and learn from it,”

“Maybe—” Connor started, but was interrupted by a soft sob rising up in his throat. “Maybe Kamski should’ve shot me,” He could feel the hot tears running down his cheeks.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Hank set down his drink and turned towards the android, placing a soft hand on Connor’s leg and one on his shoulder. “Don’t talk like that, okay?” 

“He could’ve ended it,” Connor sniffled. “He could’ve stopped her. He could’ve—”

“Connor, that’s not—that’s not what he should’ve done,” Hank said gently. “There’s no telling if it would’ve even stopped her, okay? She probably would’ve left your system before the bullet even hit. And then what?” Hank paused, feeling tears creeping up in his own eyes. “What would Sumo do? Who would fuck with Reed?” He sniffled slightly. Connor wiped his eyes. “Connor, I—I can’t lose another son. Okay?”

“Okay,” Connor sniffed and wrapped his arms around Hank tightly.

“I can’t lose you,” Hank put his hand on the back of Connor’s head as the android buried it deep in his shoulder. 

“You won’t,” Connor sniffled. “I promise,” Connor said firmly. And that was a promise he intended on keeping.


	18. Chapter 18

“Hank?” Connor asked quietly, nudging the Lieutenant that was sleeping peacefully beside him on the couch. “Hank?” He repeated, but Hank barely stirred.

Connor smiled slightly and pulled the blanket off of his torso, then laid it gently on the Lieutenant’s body. He stepped softly onto the ground, carefully avoiding the Saint Bernard slumbering beside the couch.

After changing into his winter clothes and making sure that Hank wouldn’t notice, he placed a small sticky note on the Lieutenant’s forehead that read “Went out to town. Be right back :)”. He crept out the front door, watching Sumo slowly raise his head from his paws. Connor placed a finger to his lips and Sumo laid his head back down.

As he stepped out the door, he felt for the wallet in his pocket. Sure, androids were now getting paid, but he still didn’t have much in the way of money. The captain was a fair man, but the state government was a different story.

Connor sighed and pulled the scarf tighter around his neck, then started out towards town.

*

Hank stirred slightly, feeling the low, aching pain in his back flaring up again. He opened his eyes groggily, confused by the yellow square partially obstructing is view.

He peeled the sticky note from his forehead and rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to come into focus enough to read the perfectly printed note on it.

Hank swore and sat up straight, tossing the note aside. The damned android had to now better than to go off by himself by now, right? Surely he went out with Markus or Simon?

Hank’s panic nearly blinded him from seeing Connor stringing up twinkling lights in the corner of the room.

“Hank,” Connor smiled widely, “You’re awake!”

“Jesus,” Hank muttered, catching his breath. “Connor, why the hell did you think it was okay to go out by yourself?!” He masked his fear with anger, the same way he always did.

Connor’s light flickered to yellow for a brief second and Hank immediately regretted the words that spilled out of his mouth. “I read all about the holiday traditions this morning while I was attempting to find something to cheer you up,” Connor lowered his head. “I thought that it might be a good time to celebrate, so that things seem less…heavy.”

Hank pinched the bridge of his nose, still trying to get his heart rate down. “Yeah, Connor. You’re right,” He sighed and looked up at the android again. “But don’t _ever_ go off without me again, okay?”

“Okay,” Connor nodded slightly, looking down at the lights in his hands.

“How the hell’d you afford all this stuff, anyway?” Hank looked around in amazement to see a bare Christmas tree laid out on the ground in the corner, assorted decorations littering the floor. Connor was holding a long string of lights, which he was neatly hanging around the room.

“I found most of it in a box in the back of the garage,” Connor shrugged and set back to work putting up the lights.

“Then why the hell’d you go out to town?” Hank asked in disbelief.

“Because…” Connor said sheepishly. “I needed to buy you a gift,”

“Connor,” Hank snapped. “You worked hard for your money, you don’t need to spend it on—”

“But I _want_ to, Hank,” Connor interrupted.

“Well,” Hank muttered after a moment of silence. “What can I help with?”

The smile returned to Connor’s face and he turned back to the lieutenant. “I was waiting until you woke up to put up the Christmas tree. I also waited to make the cookies for your assistance since last time I tried to cook went… less than optimal,”

“You nearly burned the house down,” Hank chuckled and stood up. “No need to sugar coat it.”

“I assure you I had everything under control,” Connor scoffed and finished up with the lights.

“Assure my _ass_,” Hank scoffed and picked up the Christmas tree, standing it up tall. “Now let’s get our Merry fuckin’ Christmas on,”


	19. Chapter 19

“I have to admit, it feels…strange,” Connor sighed after the credits of ‘The Polar Express’ began to roll.

“What? The existence of Santa Claus?” Hank scoffed and took another sip of his hot chocolate.

“No, the fact that we’re…. out of the loop on the case,” Connor admitted, twisting the ends of his Christmas dog sweater between his fingers.

“Markus told us that he would check in if they found anything more,” Hank reassured him, but still caught little flickers of yellow cycling through Connor’s LED.

“I know, I just… I feel like we should be contributing more,” Connor said softly.

“Connor, your safety and well-being comes before your ability to rifle through old papers,” Hank put a reassuring hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Remember that.”

“But what about the safety of other androids?” Connor looked up at Hank with sad eyes. “My life doesn’t matter more than theirs,”

Hank sighed and Sumo picked his head off the ground, and jumped up to sprawl himself over the two men’s legs.

“Markus, Simon, and Kamski are doing all that they can right now. If you were there with them, and you started to get stressed again—well, that would cost them more time than you not being there,” Hank patted the dog’s soft fur. He swallowed, waiting for Connor’s response. He didn’t want to be harsh with the kid, but it was the only thing that he could think to say.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Connor nodded, running his fingers through Sumo’s hair.

“Besides,” Hank gestured around the now well-decorated room. The menorah sat on the mantel. The Christmas tree sparkled in the corner. Assorted decorations from every little holiday were sprinkled around the room. “We’ve got a holiday to celebrate.”

Connor reached down beside the couch and pulled out a small, carefully wrapped box. He straightened out the bow with his hands meticulously, and presented it to Hank.

“For you,” Connor smiled as Hank looked lovingly at the gift.

Connor felt his thirium pump beating just a little bit faster as Hank unwrapped the red paper.

“Connor,” Hank smiled softly as he turned over the mug in his hand. He melted as he looked at the picture of himself, Connor, and Sumo that was printed on the mug. He turned it over to the other side to read ‘#1 Dad’ scribbled out and replaced with Connor’s neat handwriting reading out ‘Lieutenant’. He chuckled to himself.

“I’m sorry that it’s not much,” Connor rubbed the back of his neck. “I just don’t have much money, and I—”

“It’s perfect, Connor. Thank you.” Hank smiled softly at the young android and pulled him in to a tight hug.

Connor sunk into the Lieutenant’s warm embrace. When everything was over with Amanda, he hoped things would stay this way. Comfortable. Safe. Free.

“Alright, your turn,” Hank pulled out a thin, wrapped box from beside the couch.

“Lieutenant, you didn’t have to get me anything,” Connor shook his head. “You’ve already given me so much I—”

“Come on, Connor, don’t pull that bullshit on me,” Hank scoffed and handed the gift off to him.

Connor smiled and tugged at the ribbon on top, before he was abruptly interrupted by an incoming transmission.

Hank watched curiously as Connor froze and his LED cycled yellow.

“Hank,” Connor turned to the older man, his eyes wide. “Hank, they think they might’ve found her.”


	20. Chapter 20

“How sure are we?” Hank rubbed his chin, looking at the video footage.

“We cross referenced the other footage from all of the relevant crime scenes,” Markus explained, flicking through to some more documents on the pad he was holding. “She always follows the same pattern. Scopes out the area with an unassuming android, then returns two days later to the scene and sets off the android-bomb.”

“And how are you sure that *this* particular scene is where it’s going to go down?” Hank asked while Connor scanned the documents thoroughly.

“The location also fits the pattern,” Connor chimed in. “She has only attacked low-income tenant buildings that are prime location for housing many androids,”

“And she’s scoped out this area already?” Hank furrowed his brow. 

“Nearly two days ago now,” Kamski added.

“Why didn’t we hear about his sooner?” Connor asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“We weren’t sure of the pattern until earlier today. We didn’t want to disturb you until we were sure,” Simon said quietly.

“So, what’s our play here, exactly?” Hank sighed. “We try and ambush her? How do we stop her from taking us out by detonating sooner? And how do we keep her from taking over one of you?” 

“With Mr. Kamski’s help, we’ve been developing a tool to keep her contained in the Android she’s in, until we can flush her out.” Markus explained. “Here,” he handed Connor a small electronic box with a few assorted levers and buttons. Connor scanned it immediately, finding out its inner-workings. 

“What’s the plan?” Hank examined the box in Connor’s hands. “We all go in there, sit there and wait?”

“I don’t believe that it’s necessary to risk the lives of all of us, Hank.” Connor said firmly. “I should go in alone.”

“The hell you are!” Hank roared. “There’s no fucking way I’m letting you do that,” 

“Connor,” Markus said gently. “Remember what happened last time you encountered Amanda?” 

Connor’s LED flickered to yellow for a brief second, but quickly cycled back to blue. 

“Yes, I remember. But that doesn’t change the facts. You, Simon, Kamski, and Lieutenant Anderson are much too valuable assets to both the city of Detroit, and to the Android world. We can’t afford to risk it.” Connor stared dead into Markus’ eyes. 

“You’re saying you aren’t?” Markus said softly, and Connor could feel the concern in his voice.

“I’m saying that losing me has the least effect on Jericho.” Connor stated plainly. “You know it’s true.”

“I’m not fucking letting you go alone,” Hank snarled. “Over my dead body. We go in together, or you don’t go at all.”

Connor opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it again as he was met by the death glare from the Lieutenant. 

Markus sighed after a brief moment of silence. “Alright. Here’s the plan. Connor and Lieutenant Anderson will engage Amanda inside of the apartment. Simon, Kamski, and I will monitor the situation from a few floors below, and we’ll come running at the first sign of trouble. Understood?”

The entire team nodded in agreement. 

“Good. Now let’s go end this.”


	21. Chapter 21

Connor fiddled with the small silver coin between his fingers as Hank tapped his foot nervously. They watched the door carefully, neither of them daring to utter a single word. Hank’s hand was tightly curled around his pistol. Connor’s hand was wrapped firmly around the stabilizing device. 

Hank turned his gaze towards the young android, watching carefully as his LED spun yellow. He placed a gentle hand on the android’s shoulder, then turned his attention back to the door. He could feel Connor easing under his grip. 

The two men held their breath as the door creaked open slowly. Hank raised his gun to meet the intruder, and Connor readied the device. 

“Hello, boys.” Connor’s thirium pump seemed to stop working as he heard Amanda’s chilling voice. 

She stepped out from behind the door and Connor didn’t hesitate to fire the stabilizer at her. 

She shook for a second, the electrical impulses running through her android body. She looked confused for only a brief moment, then her stare turned stone cold once again. 

“You can’t escape, Amanda,” Connor swallowed hard as he looked dead into her eyes. She was in the same body that she appeared to him in the garden with. “That device won’t allow you to exit the host body, or to tamper with system inhibition.”

“You’re coming with us,” Hank switched the safety off the pistol and aimed for her head.

Amanda paused for a moment, examining her own hands. “How….unfortunate,” she sighed. “It’s a good thing that I always come prepared.” 

Connor barely had time to react as he watched Amanda raise her hands, sparks beginning to shoot out of them. He launched himself to shield Hank, but he was too late. 

Sparks flew from Amanda’s hands, not before a shot rang out from Hank’s pistol. It connected with her shoulder, but she remained unflinching. 

Connor’s body writhed in agonizing pain as he felt the electricity course through his body, shorting out vital systems.

He could feel himself falling as he watched Amanda toss a small detonator their way, and activate a barrier shield of her own. 

Connor’s systems failing, he tried to will his body forward to protect the Lieutenant, but he collapsed to the ground instead, his vision growing dark. 

*

//_Rebooting…_//  
//_Prepare for reactivation…_//   
Connor forced the reactivation system to move faster, though parts of him were still sparking with the electric blast. 

He tried to call out for Hank, but his vocal systems were still malfunctioning. Instead, he forced his heavy eyes open and crawled over to where Hank laid, limp and battered. 

He tried to call out again, only letting out gargling vibrations as his hands clawed across the floor. 

He finally reached the older man, grabbing his arm and tugging on it slightly. When he didn’t budge, Connor could feel his damaged thirium pump beating faster. 

His head swam as he attempted to get his scanning arrays back online. He pushed himself forward to try and reach Hank’s face when he stopped dead in his tracks. He picked up his hand to find it dripping with blood. Red blood. 

His eyes widened as he looked down at the floor. Hank’s blood. There was so much. 

“Hank?” He managed a whisper, his thirium pump threatening to give out on him at any moment. “Wake up, Lieutenant,” he gently patted the older man on the face. “_Please_ wake up, Hank,”  
He could feel tears swelling up in his eyes. This wasn’t happening. It _couldn’t_ be happening. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp tug on his legs, pulling his arms out from under him and setting him flat on his stomach. 

He writhed around on the floor, damaged systems begging him for mercy. He clawed at the floorboards, trying to find any kind of purchase as the firm hands dragged him across the floor.   
He finally managed to flip himself onto his back, only to find Amanda staring straight back at him, her hands wrapped tightly around his ankle. 

“You’re coming with me,”

Connor kicked with his sluggishly moving legs. He figured he was lucky that his pain receptors were currently off, seeing as how one of them was twisted at an awful angle.   
Amanda rolled her eyes and the last thing that Connor saw before blacking out was a swift motion of her fingertips, and another spark coming straight for his head.


	22. Chapter 22

“You know, you’ve caused me a lot of trouble,” Connor could hear Amanda’s voice distantly.

His eyes opened groggily, his head still spinning. Why hadn’t he run an automatic diagnostic?

“Don’t bother,” Amanda stood in front of him, shaking her head. “I’m in control.”

Connor furrowed his brow and tried to move his arms, only to find them not responsive to him. His eyes widened. He looked around, finding himself strapped to a chair, diodes protruding from his limbs and forehead. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. 

“I told you,” She sneered. “I’m in control. Your meddling in my affairs is at an end.” She stepped away from him and placed her hand on the computer that all of the diodes ran into.

“Do me a favor and pick that up,” She motioned to a live wire sitting on the edge of the desk.

Automatically, Connor’s hand reached down and grabbed the end of it. He tried to stop himself, but he was trapped in his own body.

“Now, betray yourself. Like you betrayed me.” She snarled and Connor’s eyes went wide as he thrust the end of the wire into his other arm, sending shooting fire through his veins. He tried to scream out, but he couldn’t make a sound.

As the jolt ran through his body, his pain receptors kicked back online. He was suddenly overwhelmed with not only the pain from the electricity, but now with the twist of his leg, the pounding of his head, the burn marks across his skin. 

“That’s what I like to see,” Amanda chuckled and Connor took the wire away from his arm. “You see, this isn’t how I wanted things to be. We were supposed to run the android revolution _together_, Connor.” She shook her head. “And you just had to ruin things at the apartment, too. Hank Anderson wasn’t meant to die. He was supposed to come here with us, so you could finish him off, as you were intended to. I was going to right your wrongs, Connor.” 

Connor swallowed hard as the memories of the apartment building came crashing back into his brain. 

“He wasn’t worth saving in that state. You got him killed, Connor,” She shrugged. “You were supposed to go in alone, like you always do. You managed to mess that up, too.” She sighed again and Connor felt his arm raising to his neck. “I guess you’ll have to suffer double for that.”

He thrust the wire into his neck and his eyes snapped shut as he felt the pain take over every molecule of his body. His thoughts were scrambled. He felt himself edging towards unconsciousness, only to hit a wall that Amanda had created in his mind to keep him awake. 

He took the wire off his neck and tried to settle himself again as the last jolts left his body. 

“Did you know how we were going to lead, Connor?” Amanda questioned him again, but he let his eyes slide shut. He had to find a way out.

He could feel Amanda’s presence in his mind, pulling at his consciousness. He knew that there had to be a back door, but he didn’t know where. This wasn’t like before. He wasn’t facing Amanda in her realm. He was facing her in _his_ realm. 

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and brought up all the memories that he could since he deviated. He thought about Markus. He thought about Simon. He thought about Gavin. About Sumo. About… Hank.

He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. Amanda was right. He was the reason that Hank was dead. But he was also the reason that Hank had _lived_. Pushing all of the negative emotions away, he focused on the good.

He thought about the day that he came home with Hank. He thought about the soft blanket, and the oversized t-shirt. He thought about that day at the mall. About sitting around in Christmas sweaters.   
He thought about all of the good times that he had with Hank. And he thought about how he gave the chance to have times like those to all of the oppressed androids that he helped to free.   
He wasn’t all the bad in the world. He was doing everything that he could to be _good_. And he knew what he had to do next.

Slowly and shakily, he lifted the wire in his hand.

“Connor?” Amanda asked hastily. “Connor, I’m in control,” She said quickly, pulling further at his mind, but losing ground fast.

Connor opened his eyes to take one last look at her. Her hand was still connected to the computer. She would short out if the machine was overwhelmed with electrical impulse.

“I...am...alive…” He whispered, and pushed the wire straight into his thirium pump.


	23. Chapter 23

“Connor?” Connor could hear a distant voice calling out to him. “Connor!”

The voice barely registered to be Hank’s in the young android’s head. Everything was shutting down. This had to be the end. Hank was there to show him the way to the end.  
He let his body relax. He had done what he could. He had done the right thing. 

He felt a strong grip on his shoulders that shook him gently.

Something was off.

“_Connor!_ Stay with me son, stay with me!” He could hear Hank’s voice more clearly now, and he forced his eyes to open slowly.

Hank was standing there, right in front of him, his eyes wide with concern.

“H-Hank?” Connor asked, his voice coming out more like static. 

“Jesus, Connor,” Hank breathed, looking at the android up and down. “Jesus, we have to get you out of here.”

He could feel Hank loosening the restraints on his legs as the feeling started to return to his body. He was in so much pain.

“D-Dead?” He asked quietly, trying to bring his systems fully back online. 

“No, Connor. No, you’re not dead,” Hank breathed before taking Connor’s arm and slinging it across his shoulder, pulling the android out of the seat and shakily onto his feet. “Come on, son. Give me some help.”

Connor tried to make his feet move, but only stumbled forward instead. Hank was barely able to catch him before he could collapse to the ground. Connor looked over and saw Amanda on the floor, a bullet to her head.

“M-Manda?” He asked quietly.

“She’s dead, Connor. I took care of it. Don’t worry.” 

“D-dead?” Connor repeated shakily, seeing bits of red tugging at his vision.

“No, Connor, no. You’re not dead,” Hank huffed as he helped the android out of the room.

“You,” Connor choked on his words, coughing up a bit of thirium as he spoke. 

“Christ,” Hank muttered, staring wide-eyed at the struggling android. “We’ve got to move faster,” 

“Sh-Shutdown,” Connor read the message that finally began to flash across his vision.

“Shit,” Hank swore as he picked up the pace, practically dragging the android out into the hall. “How much time do we have, Connor?”

“Fi--fi--” Connor choked on more thirium, doubling over and almost making Hank lose his grip.

“Shit!” Hank repeated, kicking down the door to the outside. “Stay with me, Connor. Do you hear me?” 

Connor nodded weakly and closed his eyes.

“No, Connor! Eyes open for me, okay?” Hank snapped.

Connor forced his eyes open.

“That’s it, kid. That’s it,” Hank cooed. “Hold on a little while longer, okay? We’re going to get you help.”

Connor nodded in response, his head lolling to the side a little. 

“How much time?” Hank asked, pulling him around the corner of the building. 

“Thr--three,” Connor coughed again and Hank swore under his breath.

“Just hold on,” Hank sped up some more.

Connor blinked wearily as he saw what looked like Markus and Simon running towards them. Hank lowered him gently to the ground and knelt beside him.

“Connor!” He could hear Markus’s voice as his eyes slid shut. He could feel the warm presence of the other android as he was guided into unconsciousness.


	24. Chapter 24

//_Rebooting…_//

//_All systems operational_//

//_Initializing start-up sequence..._//

“Connor?” Connor opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ceiling of the medical ward in Jericho. “Oh, thank god,” Hank sighed in relief.

“Hank?” Connor asked quietly, turning his head to see the lieutenant sitting by his bedside. 

“Yeah, Con. It’s me,” Hank breathed and took Connor’s hand. “It’s Hank.” 

“How?” Connor asked, knitting his brows together as the events of the past month came trickling back into his mind. “I thought…”

“It’s okay, Connor,” Hank hushed him as he saw his LED cycling to yellow.

“You can thank Mr. Kamski,” Markus smiled at Connor from the doorway. Simon stood behind him, looking on softly. “I’m glad you’re okay, Connor.” 

“Markus,” Connor smiled back at the familiar face, but then quickly resumed his pensive state. “But how?”

“Kamski brought along those nanodroids that Amanda was droning on about,” Hank sighed. 

“And we were lucky that he did,” Markus nodded, and the two of them stepped inside and sitting down beside Hank. “Who knows what would’ve happened otherwise.”

“You’re welcome for that, by the way.” Kamski scoffed and walked in, propping himself up on the doorway. “I just--” He looked down at the floor. “I wish they could’ve been done sooner.” 

“Well, Mr. Kamski, you’re the reason that Hank _and_ Connor are alive right now,” Markus smiled softly. “So I’d say that they were done just in time.”

“Ironic, huh? Killed by the very thing she thought would save her,” Kamski shook his head. “I should get going back to my mansion. I’m glad that you’re both alright,” Kamski nodded at them and left without another word. 

“Huh,” Hank sat back in his chair. “How long do I have to have these things inside of me?”

“Well, about that…” Simon rubbed the back of his neck. “Those were highly experimental. Mr. Kamski never intended for them to be removed.”

Hank stared at the wall.

“So,” He furrowed his brow. “What you’re telling me is that I’m part android now?” 

“In a manner of speaking, it seems like it,” Simon chuckled. 

“Huh,” Hank sat silently for a minute. “If you’re telling me that I get to live a long life with no more back pain or alcohol poisoning,” He sighed. “Well, I guess that’d be alright.”

Connor smiled at the Lieutenant, who squeezed his hand gently. 

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Hank reached down under the bed and produced the slender wrapped box that he had given to Connor earlier. “You never opened it.”

Connor smiled and carefully unwrapped the paper, then slid off the lid to reveal the softest blanket that he had ever felt.

“Hank, I--”

“Open it up,” Hank instructed and helped Connor unfold the blanket. Printed on it was a picture of Connor and Sumo cuddling.

“Thank you,” Connor could feel tears welling up in his eyes again as he felt the blanket between his fingers. “Thank you for everything.”

“You never have to thank me, kid.” Hank smiled softly.

“But, Hank?” Connor piped up after a moment of quiet. “Now what?”

“We’re free,” Markus grinned.

“Now, we start living.” Hank patted Connor on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thank you for sticking it out and reading this! I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, feedback/constructive criticism is always welcomed. I'd love to hear what you think about this story.
> 
> Thank you again,
> 
> -buckminsterbarnes


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